Reading The Sunday Times today and there is a very disturbing article about the Stuxnet virus. I think LI-ghtcycle mentioned it in passing.
Considering this is behind the Paywall - here is a brief surmise.
This software is supposedly created by Israel and the U.S. with possible help from Germany and it targets heavily secure industrial facilities. It was created to stop Iran's Nuclear Programme by hunting out for specific models of Semiens programmable logic controllers (PLCs) via a 'zero day' exploit. 15,000 lines of code run parallel or on top of the existing controller code without destroying the original.
Once a month they would attack in short, either 15 or 50 minute bursts, by either decreasing or increasing the speed of the motors controlling the centrifuge rotors at the Natanz nuclear facility in Iran. Even if Iran was to be attacked there was also a secondary advantage that they could watch surveillance cameras installed by the International Atomic Energy Agency. So in effect they could monitor exactly what the effects of Stuxnet - which were 1,000 busted centrifuges.
The sophistication of the virus, and the false signals it would send to the computer terminals, meant it couldn't be traced until the centrifuges were destroyed. Plus they had the complete layout of the facility, the programming controller code.
Ralph Langer, who is campaigning governments about the effects of this virus, reckons 'the attackers must have had the opportunity to check it out in a test environment. They must have had a mock-up plant.'
It seems George Bush had one final 'present' for the world when he apparently ordered this operation. Iran now have stepped up their efforts to have nuclear weapons and the Israeli zealots are getting even nuttier than normal, launching attacks on Iran. This will end badly.
In the meantime - the Stuxnet code - the most sophisticated virus ever developed, allegedly created by a multi-nation-backed team, is now freely available to download by anyone. The article goes on to state that even lay people can launch this virus as some people have developed a point-and-click module-based interface for it.
The piece ends by speculating the potential list of targets and industrial complexes that can be hacked. These include chemical plants, water-treatment plants and obviously nuclear power stations. I assume you could also add non-nuclear power stations, data-centres etc.
Apparently, we will have some very interesting times ahead if even a small portion of these attacks occur.
Considering this is behind the Paywall - here is a brief surmise.
This software is supposedly created by Israel and the U.S. with possible help from Germany and it targets heavily secure industrial facilities. It was created to stop Iran's Nuclear Programme by hunting out for specific models of Semiens programmable logic controllers (PLCs) via a 'zero day' exploit. 15,000 lines of code run parallel or on top of the existing controller code without destroying the original.
Once a month they would attack in short, either 15 or 50 minute bursts, by either decreasing or increasing the speed of the motors controlling the centrifuge rotors at the Natanz nuclear facility in Iran. Even if Iran was to be attacked there was also a secondary advantage that they could watch surveillance cameras installed by the International Atomic Energy Agency. So in effect they could monitor exactly what the effects of Stuxnet - which were 1,000 busted centrifuges.
The sophistication of the virus, and the false signals it would send to the computer terminals, meant it couldn't be traced until the centrifuges were destroyed. Plus they had the complete layout of the facility, the programming controller code.
Ralph Langer, who is campaigning governments about the effects of this virus, reckons 'the attackers must have had the opportunity to check it out in a test environment. They must have had a mock-up plant.'
It seems George Bush had one final 'present' for the world when he apparently ordered this operation. Iran now have stepped up their efforts to have nuclear weapons and the Israeli zealots are getting even nuttier than normal, launching attacks on Iran. This will end badly.
In the meantime - the Stuxnet code - the most sophisticated virus ever developed, allegedly created by a multi-nation-backed team, is now freely available to download by anyone. The article goes on to state that even lay people can launch this virus as some people have developed a point-and-click module-based interface for it.
The piece ends by speculating the potential list of targets and industrial complexes that can be hacked. These include chemical plants, water-treatment plants and obviously nuclear power stations. I assume you could also add non-nuclear power stations, data-centres etc.
Apparently, we will have some very interesting times ahead if even a small portion of these attacks occur.
