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It appears it not just your own health that can be affected by smoking e-cigarettes.

Experts have warned that computers can be infected by the gadgets, many of which can be charged from a computer's USB port.

One user even claims to have had his machine infected by malware - and experts say the problem could become bigger in the future.

Experts have issued a warning over e-cigs amid claims they are infecting machines with malware when they are plugged into USB ports to recharge.

One reddit users claims to have uncovered the first case of e-cig malware. 

'I have a story I wanted to share about a data security breach at a large corporation,' jrockilla posted.

One particular executive had a malware infection on his computer from which the source could not be determined. 

'Finally after all traditional means of infection were covered; IT started looking into other possibilities. 

'They finally asked the Executive, 'Have there been any changes in your life recently'? The executive answer 'Well yes, I quit smoking two weeks ago and switched to e-cigarettes'.

'And that was the answer they were looking for, the made in china e-cigarette had malware hard coded into the charger and when plugged into a computer's USB port the malware phoned home and infected the system. ' 

E-cigarettes in numbers

One hacker, known online as Jester, predicted the move in March, and said the problem could even spread to other appliances.

'All those desk toys, like the coffee warmer, and the mexican jumping bean thing, all those 'office toys' you can get from 'thinkgeek.com' and similar, that only come with a little USB plug you have no choice but to drop in you PC (whichever PC you are near) they are all made in China,' he said 

Rik Ferguson, a security consultant for Trend Micro, says the story is entirely plausible, and that it has already infected many household gadgets.

'Production line malware has been around for a few years, infecting photo frames, MP3 players and more,' he told the Guardian.

A  recent proof-of-concept attack called 'BadUSB', which involves reprogramming USB devices at the hardware level, meaning 'safe' gadget could be turned into hacking tools.

 'Very widely spread USB controller chips, including those in thumb drives, have no protection from such reprogramming,' says Berlin-based firm SRLabs, which released the code.

'This versatility is also USB's Achilles heel: Since different device classes can plug into the same connectors, one type of device can turn into a more capable or malicious type without the user noticing,' it claims. 

'No effective defenses from USB attacks are known. 

'Once infected, computers and their USB peripherals can never be trusted again.