Monday, September 27, 2010

US Strikes Iran in a Sophistocated Cyber War Attack...and will "neither confirm nor deny" doing so



Pentagon Silent on Iranian Nuke Virus -Justin Fishel

The Pentagon is refusing to comment on widespread accusations that it is responsible for coordinating a cyber-attack against Iran's nuclear facilities. Earlier this month the Iranians acknowledged the "Stuxnet Worm" had invaded software it uses at multiple nuclear production plants.

Pentagon Spokesman Col. David Lapan said the Department of Defense can "neither confirm nor deny" reports that it launched this attack.
[Fox News]


Did New Malware Target Iran's Nuclear Plant? -Mark Clayton

A cyber worm, called Stuxnet, may be the world's first known cyberweapon designed specifically to destroy a real-world target. One expert suggests Stuxnet may have already attacked its target - Iran's Bushehr nuclear power plant.

Stuxnet employs amazing new tricks, like taking control of a computer system without the user taking any action or clicking any button other than inserting an infected memory stick. It targets and infiltrates industrial supervisory control and data acquisition (SCADA) software used to run chemical plants and factories as well as electric power plants and transmission systems worldwide, takes control of the automated factory control systems, and does whatever it was programmed to do with them.

Ralph Langner, a German cyber-security researcher, described Stuxnet as essentially a precision, military-grade cyber missile deployed to seek out and destroy a real-world target of high importance. "This is a 100% sabotage attack," he said.

Three top U.S. industrial control system security experts confirmed his findings. "This is the first direct example of weaponized software, highly customized and designed to find a particular target," says Michael Assante, former chief of industrial control systems cyber security research at the U.S. Department of Energy's Idaho National Laboratory.

A geographical distribution of computers hit by Stuxnet found Iran to be the apparent epicenter of the infections.
(Christian Science Monitor)


Not the First Cyberweapon -John Markoff

A remarkable set of events surrounded the 2007 Israeli Air Force attack on what was suspected of being a Syrian nuclear reactor under construction. Accounts of the event initially indicated that sophisticated jamming technology had been used to blind the radar so Israeli aircraft went unnoticed.

Last December, however, a report in an American technical publication, IEEE Spectrum, cited a European industry source as raising the possibility that the Israelis had used a built-in software kill switch to shut down the radar.
(New York Times)
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UPDATES:

As the Worm Turns -David Kay
The thought of a nerdy computer worm bringing Iran’s nuclear program to an at-least-temporary standstill, adds an element of comic irony to a dangerous challenge to global stability.

As one digs into the likely origins and motivations behind the "Stuxnet" computer worm, at the top of the list of obvious suspects would be the U.S. and Israel. But they are not the only suspects.

The Russians have shown increasing unease at the prospects of an Iran that would really have nuclear weapons. The Chinese have well north of $100 billion invested in Iranian oil and gas, and an attack by the U.S. and/or Israel on Iran and the chaos likely to ensue could well render these investments worthless and be a serious brake on the Chinese economy.

If the Stuxnet worm can be inserted by stealth into the prized jewels of Iran's nuclear program, who can assure the Iranian leadership that the son of Stuxnet is not quietly sitting in the guidance- and flight-control systems of Iran's missile-delivery capability?

The good news is that someone has shown a way other than sending in the bombers to give pause and buy time in confronting Iran's nuclear challenge.
(National Interest)
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Iran's Nuke Program Was Target of Stuxnet -Glenn Kessler

The Stuxnet computer worm that infiltrated industrial systems in Iran this fall may have been specifically designed to attack the country's nuclear program. [T]he worm appears to attack key components of [nuclear] centrifuges.

"Rigging the speed control is a very clever way of causing the machines to fly apart," said Ivanka Barzashka, a research associate at the Federation of American Scientists. "If Symantec's analysis is true, then Stuxnet likely aimed to destroy Iran's gas centrifuges."
(Washington Post)
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