How the world's first cyber super weapon 'designed by the CIA' attacked Iran - and now threatens

The CIA could have been behind a computer virus dubbed the world's first cyber 'super weapon' that attacked an Iranian nuclear plant, experts claim.

The launch of Stuxnet in 2010 marked the transformation of viruses into weapons of war.

Experts believe it was so sophisticated that it could have only been invented by designers with the backing of a nation state, with the spy arm of the U.S government being the main suspects.

It was purpose-built to attack Iran's Busehr nuclear plant, overriding and controlling circuits inside the plant to cause physical damage.

It was the first malware that could truly be described as a 'cyber-weapon'.
'With Stuxnet we have opened a new chapter in human history,' says Ralph Langner, the security expert who unravelled the attack. 'There is now no way we can stop or control the proliferation of cyber-weapons.'

To begin with, the sheer sophistication of the attack was what dazzled experts - it exploited four separate vulnerabilities in Windows to penetrate and override industrial control systems designed by Siemens.

It would have taken experts months to design.
But in the wake of Stuxnet, it's become clear that the weapon was almost over-designed for the job.

www.dailymail.co.... uk/sciencetech/article-2070690/How-worlds-cyber-super-weapon-attacked-Iran--threatens-world.html

When the virus was deployed in Iran, it probably didn't do all the damage that was hoped for in the US. Most countries do not connect their critical industrial equipment to the internet as in the US.

Highly industrialised countries have their infrastructure electronically linked for management and maintenance. These management and maintenance systems could be working remotely by contractors or suppliers who are managing proprietorial software that run factories or power plants.

This sort of networks do not exist in Iran because they may not have a commercial sector that engages with government projects as you have in the US.

The Stuxnet virus probably did a lot of damage and the Irans isolated it for experts to look at and neutralise it. No doubt one of the first things the Iranian security services would have done was distribute Stuxnet in the West to spread the pain.

nope the Israelis did it

"The video of Lieutenant General Gabi Ashkenazi's operational successes included references to Stuxnet, a computer virus that disrupted the Natanz nuclear enrichment site last year, Ha'aretz reported."

www.telegraph.co.uk...

Question is why are they using Windows based OS in the first place? And why do humans feel the need to make weapons for every situtation? This has potential of screwing up a lot of things, and also has potential for excuses for the government to feel they need to regulate internet more "for security purposes". Headline tomorrow, "Iran, Syria ______(any of our perceived enemies) cyber attacks NYC's subway and economic sector, billions of assests lost, hundreds injured" , the week after that look for a bill to pass.

reply to post by Helixer


Its not the cia lol i can tell you that 110%

The real question is: Why on earth do Governments even use the Internet? Why can't they build their own that is separate from the World Wide Web?

We know they have the money for it. So why do they allow themselves to be attacked? A virus can't infect that which is not connected.

Our energy grid systems should also be separate from the Internet. They should have their very own network for communicating with each other, not for looking at porn while at work.

reply to post by Chewingonmushrooms


I suppose weapons are made to make money. Weapons manufacturers lobby governments to sell their wares and advance the idea of wars.

The manufacturers of thermobaric bombs will tell you that thermobaric bombs don't kill people, people kill people.

Originally posted by Bonkrh
reply to post by Helixer

 

Its not the cia lol i can tell you that 110%

So how do you know and why be coy about it?

Spill the beans dude.

reply to post by Helixer


because it isnt something to be discussed openly. but if you are good enough with computers and stuff like that you can easily create parts of this virus and add to the effectiveness.

one "zero" sells for 100k on the black market. a "zero" is the coding

reply to post by CastleMadeOfSand


u're talking lots of infrastructure, thats going to cost lots of money. and then add the recession to that

Originally posted by CastleMadeOfSand
The real question is: Why on earth do Governments even use the Internet? Why can't they build their own that is separate from the World Wide Web?

We know they have the money for it. So why do they allow themselves to be attacked? A virus can't infect that which is not connected.

Our energy grid systems should also be separate from the Internet. They should have their very own network for communicating with each other, not for looking at porn while at work.

They put the infrastucture on the internet to open up running tax payer paid utility providers to contractors and private business to run.

A private company runs the Hoover Dam and it is connected to the internet. Private companies from all parts of the world bid for the contract to run it. This is why infrastructures are connected to networks.

the virus is spread via USB keys etc being directly connected to the target system, of course the USB key "could" be infected by being on the net but these were targeted, likely by spies working in the facilities. We wouold probably already be in nuclear winter if power plants ran windows and were connected to the web

I saw another article which suggests US partnership and also suggests that Israel were testing the virus at their Dimona plant and that is why it proved so successful, article linked below

www.nytimes.com...

Originally posted by trustnothing
the virus is spread via USB keys etc being directly connected to the target system, of course the USB key "could" be infected by being on the net but these were targeted, likely by spies working in the facilities. We wouold probably already be in nuclear winter if power plants ran windows and were connected to the web

I saw another article which suggests US partnership and also suggests that Israel were testing the virus at their Dimona plant and that is why it proved so successful, article linked below

www.nytimes.com...

I agree. The virus was hand delivered and the damage serious. I don't think it spread widely in Iran because there might not be enough spies.

The Persians are really not like the Arabs and have fewer traitors. In fact the Iranians are teaching the Lebanese how to hunt down and capture Israeli spies.