It would seem that cyber attacks on foreign nations are scenarios of a future where technology will dominate our society; however just last year, a functioning cyber attack was launched against Iran. Even though the invasion did not result in massive destruction, it revealed the possibilities of causing substantial damage from hundreds of miles away.
In July 2011 a new, sophisticated malicious spyware - called Stuxnet - infected Iranian industrial software and facility. The worm targets Siemens specific software that runs with Microsoft Windows. According to an article on BBC Mobile, Stuxnet is one of the first malware discovered that can not only monitor specific industrial processes, but can also seize control of the system.
It was highly suspected that the computer worm was created by the U.S. and Israeli intelligence services to sabotage Iran’s nuclear ambitions. Even though Iran claims that its nuclear program is for civilian purposes only, the West accuses it of using it to build atomic weapons. Since the Stuxnet worm was clearly aimed at the Bushehr reactor and its capabilities were so sophisticated, the Iranian government and military believe it could only have been created by a nation state under the help of Siemens. These accusations, presented in the online article, “Iranian Military Offical: Siemens helped U.S and Israel in Cyber Attack on Nuclear Program,” reveal the underlying anger of Iran for the cyber attack on their industrial systems. An article on Aljazeera, suggests that the setbacks suffered by the Iranian nuclear power plant – such as its several missed start-up deadlines – have partially been a result of the invasion by Stuxnet. Many articles regarding this case claim that had experts not been able to catch the cyber invasion and as soon as they did, Stuxnet could have caused major damage to Iranian’s nuclear program. If this type of worm can tamper with say a chemical or power plant, that could potentially result in a massive a nuclear disaster.
Mahmoud Liayi, the head of the information technology council at the ministry of industries in Iran, told an Iranian newspaper that "an electronic war has been launched against Iran"(Stuxnet). Even though the Iranian government has been downplaying the cyber attack, there is no way of knowing whether Iran will now invest in stronger cyber security or simply their own spyware to retaliate this deliberate cyber attack.
“Iran Nuclear Plan Suffers Setback.” 26 Feb 2011. Aljazeera.
“Iranian Military Offical: Siemens helped U.S and Israel in Cyber Attack on Nuclear Program.” 17 April 2011. Haaretz.com.
McMillan, Robert. “Siemens: Stuxnet Worm Hit Industrial Systems.” 14 Sep 2010. Computerworld.
“Stuxnet worm hits Iran nuclear plant staff computers.” 26 Sep 210. BBC Mobile.
Good account. One minor point is that it is helpful to provide clickable links for the things you refer to, either within the text or in the list at the end. It's interesting to see that there is now a "son of stuxnet" apparently by the same originators http://www.nytimes.com/2011/10/19/technology/stuxnet-computer-worms-creators-may-be-active-again.html
ReplyDeleteDoes it change any of the issues since it is not as narrowly targeted?
Keep up the good work.
By the way, having mentioned clickable links, I wasn't able to do one in my own comment (at least it's cut-and-pastable). But the editing facilities for original entries do make it possible.
ReplyDeleteThe threat malware like Stuxnet poses to society is tremendous. In the case of Iran's nuclear program, malware was used to hinder the potential development of a catastrophically powerful weapons program. It was an unorthodox and highly effective tool to fight the "bad guys." But what if roles were reversed? What if hostile nations were capable of severely crippling US infrastructure through online attack, fundamentally endangering our national defense? Or what if terrorist groups got ahold of technology powerful and insidious enough to undermine and monitor the workings of nuclear programs? The fact that Stuxnet could be created in the first place is deeply alarming because it opens up a whole world of unwelcome possibilities. What might seem like a miracle weapon against the forces of evil in the hands of the "good guys" becomes an apocalyptic tool for chaos in the hands of the "bad guys."
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