IBM has been left with egg on its face after it distributed virus-laden USB keys to attendees at Australia's biggest computer security conference.

Delegates of the AusCERT conference, held over the past week at the Royal Pines Resort on the Gold Coast, were told about the malware problem in a warning email this afternoon by IBM Australia chief technologist Glenn Wightwick.

The incident is ironic because conference attendees include the who's who of the computer security world and IBM was there to show off its security credentials.

Some attendees may have thought they were experiencing dejavu as Telstra was left red-faced at the 2008 AusCERT conference for also distributing malware-infected USB drives.

"At the AusCERT conference this week, you may have collected a complimentary USB key from the IBM booth," Wightwick wrote.