| Submit your comments on this article | |
| Syria-Lebanon-Iran | |
| Intelligence chief says Iran able to fight computer worm | |
| 2010-10-03 | |
| [Arab News] Iran's intelligence minister said the country has learned how to fight off a complex computer worm that some foreign experts have speculated was designed to target Tehran's nuclear program, state television reported. ... and if you can't believe state television who can you believe? Saturday. Heidar Moslehi was also quoted as saying authorities have jugged several nuclear spies, but he gave no details and it wasn't clear if the developments were related. Over recent months, the malicious Stuxnet computer code has also affected industrial systems in India, Indonesia and the US.
The destructive Stuxnet worm has surprised experts because it is the first one specifically created to take over industrial control systems, like those at power plants, rather than just steal or manipulate data. Moslehi did not reveal where or when the suspected spies were jugged, saying only that Iran has "always faced sabotage" by foreign intelligence services. Iran periodically announces the arrest of nuclear spies without giving details. The state TV report did not carry any remarks from Moslehi linking the arrests with the investigation into the computer worm. "Iran's intelligence department has found a solution for confronting (the worm) and it will be applied," he was quoted as saying. "Our domination of virtual networks has thwarted the activities of enemies in this regard." A week ago, Iran said the stuxnet code was found on several laptops belonging to staff at the Bushehr nuclear power plant but that the plant's main systems were not affected. The plant has stood outside the current controversy over Iran's nuclear program since Russia will be providing the fuel for the plant and supervising its disposal. But other aspects of Iran's nuclear work, especially its enrichment of uranium, are of concern to the United States and other world powers. Enrichment can be used to produce weapons as well as make fuel for power plants. Iran says it only has peaceful nuclear aims, such as generating electricity. Who created the Stuxnet code and what its precise target is, if any, remains a mystery. The web security firm Symantec Corp. says the computer worm was likely spawned by a government or a well-funded private group. It was apparently constructed by a small team of as many as five to 10 highly educated and well-funded hackers, Symantec says. | |
| Posted by:Fred |
| #3 Actually, the BP spill was PROBABLY caused by a combination of things, including human error. I don't think it was sabotage. A Google search of stuxnet garners almost 14 million hits. I still personally believe that it's primarily a warning to Iran to stop its enrichment, with enough problems generated to allow Iran to understand how vulnerable it is. I'd bet money there's a far more lethal - and better hidden - second virus that will be released, either at a specific time or by a specific command, that can do up to a hundred times as much damage. Stuxnet may even be the delivery method for the more potent virus, and is currently busy replicating itself in additional systems in Iran and elsewhere. I doubt we've heard the last of it, either in Iran or elsewhere in the world. |
| Posted by: Old Patriot 2010-10-03 17:47 |
| #2 Haven't a clue, but indications were that the failure at the BP site was in the wellhead, not in the equipment IIRC. |
| Posted by: lotp 2010-10-03 08:11 |
| #1 Did The BP Gulf oil platform have Siemens controls? Maybe there's already been several instances of industrial computer sabotage worldwide. just askin (takes tinfoilhat off) |
| Posted by: Mike Hunt 2010-10-03 02:32 |