Iran dismisses reports on cyber virus on nuclear power plant

People Daily ^ | 1/18/11

[Libloather]

Iran dismisses reports on cyber virus on nuclear power plant
22:02, January 18, 2011

A spokesman of Iranian Atomic Energy Organization (IAEO) dismissed reports about negative impacts of Stuxnet worm on Iran's nuclear facilities, local satellite Press TV reported on Tuesday.

Hamid Khadem Qaemi, rejected the report of Daily Telegraph, alleging that Stuxnet computer virus has had a negative impact on the country's nuclear facilities.

Khadem Qaemi said Tuesday that the Stuxnet worm has failed to influence the progressing activities of Bushehr nuclear power plant in southern Iran.

"The Iranian atomic energy organization's security experts vigilantly identified the virus about one and a half year ago and required precautions at the time to block the virus," he was quoted as saying.

The IAEO spokesman also said that these rumors are part of the psychological warfare against Iran's peaceful nuclear program in upcoming talks with P5+1 scheduled for January 21-22 in Istanbul, according to Press TV.

"The Bushehr nuclear power plant will soon come on stream as the first nuclear plant in the Middle East," the spokesman was quoted as saying.

Iran has announced that in February the nuclear power plant could join the national power grid.

On Monday, British newspaper Daily Telegraph said a Stuxnet virus, which was developed at Israeli Dimona nuclear power plant (NPP) had already conducted "enormous damage" to the reactor and that Russian team "cannot guarantee safe activation of the reactor."

Russia signed an agreement worth 1 billion U.S. dollars in 1995 to take over the project. Its completion, first scheduled for 1999, was postponed several times by mounting technological and financial challenges and interruptions under pressures from the United States.

[Libloather]

"All is well! Visiting hours of the nuclear facilities will resume in one hour! Ticket prices have been slashed!"

[chiefqc]

And that is news that you can believe.

[Cardhu]

Russia’s nuclear agency Rosatom has rejected media reports that the computer virus Stuxnet has impacted Iran’s nuclear power plant in the southern city of Bushehr.

“There are no viruses in the power plant’s computer network, especially in units responsible for security, because this network is totally autonomous and isolated from external sources,” Xinhua quoted Rosatom spokesman Sergei Novikov as saying on Monday.

His remarks came after Western media outlets claimed on January 17 that the computer bug had caused “enormous damage” to the Bushehr reactor.

[battousai]

because this network is totally autonomous and isolated from external sources

Yes but that air gap security was breached thanks to a scientist or tech who took his laptop between the two networks and finally got stuxnet inside.

While stuxnet did a beautiful job and a lot of damage, the bottom line is that it was only a delay, if only they could be delayed further until 2013 when (hopefuly) some adults are in charge of the USA, a more permanent solution can be found ;)