A Blog by the Editor of The Middle East Journal

Putting Middle Eastern Events in Cultural and Historical Context

Friday, September 24, 2010

Is Somebody Cyber-Targeting the Iranian Nuclear Program?

Now this is interesting, if inconclusive:
One of the most sophisticated pieces of malware ever detected was probably targeting "high value" infrastructure in Iran, experts have told the BBC.

Stuxnet's complexity suggests it could only have been written by a "nation state", some researchers have claimed.

It's drawing a lot of attention from tech blogs and security types, especially because, as this graph from the Symantec report suggests, it's targeting one country:

Here's a piece arguing that Iran's Bushehr reactor might be the specific target, though others say there isn't enough evidence yet. And here's a technical piece (far beyond my meager computer skills) on which the argument is based.

Here's another suggesting the enrichment plant at Natanz, not the reactor at Bushehr, is the target.

And here's more on just how sophisticated it is.


Not surprisingly, a few of these articles note this Israeli report last year that Israel was developing a cyberwarfare capability, possibly targeting Iran.

Some reports suggest this is too sophisticated not to be run by a nation-state. It seems aimed at specific factory control mechanisms; some seem targeted at Siemens products.

I suppose Israel and the US would be the first suspects, but the potential for unintended consequences (infecting your own plants?) would seem to be a concern.

And of course, this may all be psywar rather than cyberwar, but then again . . .

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