Posted on 01/16/2011 7:49:05 PM PST by Sharondownunderinnz
The New York Times reported rather conclusively on Saturday that the super-advanced computer virus that has at least partially crippled Iran’s nuclear program was developed and tested by Israel, with American involvement.
Known as Stuxnet, the virus was first identified “in the wild” about two years ago. About one year ago, it infected the computers that control the uranium enrichment plant at Natanz in central Iran. By all accounts, Stuxnet has to date managed to knock out 984 centrifuges and has, according to Israeli officials, set back Iran’s nuclear program by a good three-to-four years.
According to the report, the idea for the virus was birthed after Israel requested bombs and a green light from the US to launch a military assault on Iran’s nuclear facilities. Told that such an assault would not end Iran’s nuclear program, but merely set it back by several years, former US President George W. Bush said no.
So, work began on another way to achieve the same goal without sparking a Middle East war.
One of the keys to the plan were the computer controllers made by the German technology firm Siemens, which US intelligence had learned were being used at the Natanz plant. American engineers spent time analyzing the potential security holes in the Siemens machines.
But there was a hiccup.
Iran is apparently using centrifuges modeled on the now-archaic designs of Pakistani scientist A. Q. Khan. America had gotten its hands on a large stockpile of these centrifuges when Libya dismantled its nuclear program in 2003, but US and British engineers failed to get the things to operate in a stable manner.
That’s where Israel comes in. At the nuclear base in the southern Israel town of Dimona, engineers did manage, reportedly after much trial and error, to get the outdated centrifuges to run stably and were able to test the meticulously-crafted computer worm on them.
Computer security experts who have since deconstructed Stuxnet say it is a work of art, and by far the most advanced computer virus ever created.
Stuxnet has infected countless industrial computers around the world, but was very carefully coded to only attack a very specific kind of system performing a very specific kind of task.
Basically, the way Stuxnet works is that is causes the centrifuges to spin so fast that they begin to wobble and tear themselves apart. But that’s not enough, as the computer controllers that run the centrifuges are programmed to shut down at the first sign of trouble. So, Stuxnet was also programmed to fool the computer controllers by sending signals indicated that all was well with the centrifuges, when in reality they were self-destructing.
And Stuxnet might not be done. One expert who examined the code said the virus has the ability to hibernate and self-replicate, hiding itself deep inside a computer system undetected only to reemerge and again cause havoc at a later date.
Both Israel and the US continue to assert they have no connection to Stuxnet, though it is now widely believed that the Israeli army’s vaunted Unit 8200, the equivalent of American’s National Security Agency, was the originator.
I think it originated from one of my replies right here on FR. Got protection?
Even if it was TESTED by Israel it still dont mean that they even had a hand in creating it and besides just how can the NY Slimes prove that Israel even had contact in developing and/or testing it?
This is just the usual anti-Semite smear from the the left.
“So how did Iran’s computers get infected?”
From what I have read else where, the Iranian nuclear facility was not connected to the internet. So what they did was generally send it out to get on the laptops of Iranian nuclear scientist and some of them took their laptops into the secure facility and plug into the system there and voila.
Ok, that’s plausible. Thanks
When the American voters elected Obama their stupidity betrayed Israel.
Wouldn’t it have been better if all this had been kept secret. Aren’t we just setting our selves up as a target by rubbing their noses in it.
Glad to know the news just not sure if I needed to know.
The NYT is a super-retarded virus designed to attack the US of A.
I am so happy anytime anything bad happens to the current Iranian regime. I wish their entire military would self immolate. Iran has attacked the U.S. over and over again and we never do anything about it. They have done far more evil to us than Saddam ever did.
It was interesting how that virus worked. I just assumed it attacked their computers and wondered why they could not just replace them. Glad to know it destroyed their equipment too.
Dear Mr. Ahmadinejad:
This is to inform you that we at the Nigerian Department of Energy have a surplus of yellowcake uranium due to a procurement error.
If you will help us to complete this transaction, a portion of this surplus can be made available to you...
Here’s hoping for Stuxnet II and Stuxnet III to be launched against Iran’s nuke program. Also for more of their nuke scientists to ‘meet Allah’ via explosives taped to car winshields.
I hope the crazy Persian dictators are scared to death thinking that other critical systems throughout Iran are similarly infected by other tailor made viruses. If one can be crafted in such a manner to remain undetected and specific to a task, what other “enemies” of Israel and the West could be dealt catastrophic blows in the future, with systems ranging from nuclear facilities to infrastructure to military capabilities.
It’s a new world.
haha! thanks for the laugh:)
You can bet China or Russia is working on the same thing to use against us someday.
Only if you think there's something wrong with Israel mounting a cyberattack to harm Iran's nuke program. I certainly don't. In fact, kudos to them, because this thing was definitely a very targeted and sophisticated attack and did the world a huge favor.
The Times doesn't really have a scoop here. There were signs pointing to this being an Israeli operation, possibly with the involvement of the US and Germany late last year, at least in the security industry anyway. I had already come to the conclusion that it was probably an Israeli op by early November.
Can it be proven? No, I don't think so. But it's pretty darn likely.
stuxnet bump for later........
I like your post!!!
How did they know the virus was Jewish? Did it wear a yamulka? Did it refuse to work on Saturdays?
Sneaky way they got the Iranians to download the virus, too, hiding it on a site for goat porn.
If you’d like to be on or off, please FR mail me.
..................
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.