Remember the Stuxnet computer virus? Initially found to have infested big-time control systems around the world, its true purpose quickly emerged: to attack and destroy the nuclear centrifuges at Iran's Natanz nuclear enrichment facility.
That part is well known enough -- and appears to have been successful, given Iran's problems with the enrichment program. But this superb video, created by Patrick Clair and written by Scott Mitchell for the Hungry Beast program on Australia's ABC1, breaks down the details of how it was discovered and what made it so ingenious. You gotta watch:
Stuxnet: Anatomy of a Computer Virus from Patrick Clair on Vimeo.
There's a powerful, under-reported takeaway here: The Stuxnet virus, having already done its job, now enjoys a scary afterlife. Its code is available online for anyone to look at and play with -- and keep in mind, this is a virus capable of shutting down entire power grids. Could hackers re-engineer the virus to other ends, posing far greater threats to the international economy?
It's hard to know, as the hacking still continues apace (and the video seems a bit all too invested in scaring the bejesus out of you). Certainly, you'd have to have a deep knowledge of a specific target to make it work again, in another setting. But it's worth wondering whether the tool, while successful, has ended up spreading dangerous knowledge worldwide. Once its complexity and ambition becomes absorbed by the hacker community -- and governments such as China -- who knows what will emerge as a result.
In 100 years, historians will probably look back at Stuxnet's emergence as the Trinity Test for a new age of warfare -- a harbinger of danger in an uncertain era.
COMMENTARY:
WHAT IS THE SOURCE OF THE STUXNET VIRUS?
According to some "unidentified sources", US and Israeli intelligence services collaborated to develop a destructive computer worm to sabotage Iran's efforts to make a nuclear bomb, The New York Times reported on January 16, 2011.
The newspaper quoted intelligence and military experts as saying Israel tested the effectiveness of the Stuxnet computer worm, which apparently shut down a fifth of Iran's nuclear centrifuges in November and helped delay its ability to make its first nuclear weapons.
The testing took place at the heavily guarded Dimona complex in the Negev desert housing the Middle East's sole, albeit undeclared nuclear weapons program. Experts and officials told the Times the effort to create Stuxnet was a US-Israeli project with the help, knowingly or not, of Britain and Germany.
A US expert told the New York Times,
"To check out the worm, you have to know the machines. The reason the worm has been effective is that the Israelis tried it out."
There has been widespread speculation Israel was behind the Stuxnet worm that has attacked computers in Iran, and Tehran has blamed the Jewish state and the United States for the killing of two nuclear scientists in November and January.
The Times report came as Iran earlier said its controversial uranium enrichment program was progressing "very strongly," just days ahead of a high-profile meeting between Tehran and six world powers over the Islamic republic's nuclear program.
Both the United States and Israel have recently announced they believe the program has been set back by several years. US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton pointed to a series of sanctions imposed since June 2009 by the UN Security Council and individual countries.
And Moshe Yaalon, Israel's strategic affairs minister and former military chief, said last month that a series of "technological challenges and difficulties" meant Tehran was still about three years away from being able to build nuclear weapons.
Israel has backed US-led efforts to prevent Iran from developing a nuclear weapons capability through sanctions, but has also refused to rule out military force.
On Tuesday, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said international sanctions against Iran would only be effective if they were backed by a "credible" military threat.
The Stuxnet worm apparently included two major parts, one intended to make Iran's nuclear centrifuges spin out of control.
Another secretly recorded normal operations at the nuclear plant, then played those recordings back to the site's operators so all would appear usual during the sabotage operation, according to the Times.
Stuxnet targets computer control systems made by German industrial giant Siemens and commonly used to manage water supplies, oil rigs, power plants and other critical infrastructure.
Most Stuxnet infections have been discovered in Iran, giving rise to speculation it was intended to sabotage nuclear facilities there.
The report came after Clinton, who was on a five-day trip to the United Arab Emirates, Oman and Qatar last week, urged Arab states to stay focused on sanctions against Iran.
The UN Security Council last June imposed a fourth round of sanctions against Iran in a bid to halt its uranium enrichment programme.
Iran says its aims are peaceful, denying charges by Israel and the West that its uranium enrichment work masks a drive for nuclear weapons.
The Islamic republic is set to hold a new round of nuclear talks with Britain, China, France, Germany, Russia and the United States in Istanbul on January 21 and 22.
HOW DOES THE U.S. PROTECT ITSELF AGAINST CYBER ATTACKS?
The federal organization entrusted with the job of protecting our country against cyber attacks is USCYBERCOM or CYBERCOM.
On February 7, 2011., I profiled CYBERCOM in a blog post USCYBERCOM is a sub-unified command subordinate to USSTRATCOM. Service Elements include the four key branches of the U.S. military:
- U.S. Army – Army Cyber Command (ARCYBER)
- U.S. Air Force – 24th USAF
- U.S. Navy – Fleet Cyber Command (FLTCYBERCOM)
- U.S. Marine Corp – Marine Forces Cyber Command (MARFORCYBER)
CYBERCOM is just as vigilant as our military troops in Iraq and Afghanistan, protecting us against future cyber attacks.
Courtesy of an article June 17, 2011 appearing in Fast Company Design and an article dated January 16, 2011 appearing in Space Daily's Cyber Wars
If you do not have any anti malware protection on your computer or the subscription has expired, for your convenience I have listed a few that are available for download and are completely free: I will not get involved with the rights and wrongs of each package or its effectiveness or indeed “This is best” or “This is crap” statements. Whatever you do, just make sure you have one of each type installed, updated and fully working. Hope it will help. :)
Posted by: orange county tech support | 03/16/2012 at 11:51 PM
I remember when we used to learn to write virus back in the days, except they were not call virus. just programs that make windows do "funny stuff" lol
Posted by: Virus Removal | 12/07/2011 at 03:01 PM
I like the 70's Viruses. Bob Thomas did a great job in creating "Creeper." LOL, Now that's the mother of all viruses! LOL. I wonder if any of those still exist.
Posted by: Carlene Schnitzer | 11/10/2011 at 10:05 AM