Stuxnet is what many say is the most sophisticated malware ever. Computer security experts across the world are amazed by it. The Stuxnet tool is being said it can sabotage with a search and destroy method. The Stuxnet is said by cybersecurity experts to be so complex that it could only are made by a nation-state. This means that no rogue hackers could recreate the technology. Stuxnet looks for specific software programs, such as factories, power plants and water systems, through thumb drives and printer spoolers instead of spreading on the web. Iran has seen this the most leading many to believe the Bushehr nuclear power plant was the target of the Stuxnet.
Was Bushehr reactor sabotaged by Stuxnet?
Stuxnet was first detected in June. The Christian Science Monitor reports the worm’s complexity and encryption has dumbfounded computer security specialists. Stuxnet is the first malware discovered that targets, infiltrates and takes control of software used to run chemical plants, factories, power plants and electric grids worldwide. The Monitor reports that researcher from Cybersecurity, Ralph Langler, explained that Stuxnet is meant to hit one high value target as a military-grade cyber missile. The Target, according to Langer, was the Bushehr nuclear power plant in Iran. He believes the target was hit already. Bushehr was expected to start up in August but then was delayed for reasons that are unknown.
How Stuxnet is expected to work
Within the world, Stuxnet has already infected computer systems. It has hit at least 45,000 systems so far. The Daily Mail reports the worm targets computer systems that aren’t connected to the internet for security reasons. USB thumb drives spread the virus to PCs running Microsoft Windows. The PC does not need anyone to key in any kind of code for it to work. Stuxnet looks for any Siemens software running control systems that are industrial once in computer. Industrial machinery is given new instructions that are dangerous once it finds the software. Taking control of key processes, Stuxnet may set off a sequence. This is expected to create a self-destruct on the system.
Stuxnet launches new era of cyber warfare
Alarms have been hit with Stuxnet. This is because its code is so complex along with the many different techniques in it. Liam O’Murchu of Symantec talked to BBC News. He explained to them that Stuxnet spreads so easily because the techniques used are so unfamiliar to computers. Windows vulnerabilities that weren’t known before are being exploited by the worm. O’Murchu said Stuxnet was a very big, well-planned, well-funded project. Langer explains that Stuxnet has lots of insider knowledge. It was needed to create a sabotage attack like this. “This is not some hacker sitting within the basement of his parents’ house,” he wrote. “To me, it appears that the resources needed to stage this attack point to a nation state.”
Additional reading
Christian Science Monitor
csmonitor.com/USA/2010/0921/Stuxnet-malware-is-weapon-out-to-destroy-Iran-s-Bushehr-nuclear-plant
Daily Mail
dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-1314580/Stuxnet-worm-targeted-Iranian-nuclear-power-station-sophisticated-virus-attack-ever.html?ITO=1490
BBC News
bbc.co.uk/news/technology-11388018
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