Monday, May 28, 2012

"Flame" (Cyber Weapon) Found in Iran

A cyber weapon that has been operating for at least five years!?! This marks at least the third known cyber attack against Iran, but may have been the first used (it was discovered after the other two, but likely deployed before them). If there were cyber weapons deployed at at least five years ago, it is a pretty safe bet that the three discovered would not qualify as even the tip of the iceberg in terms of the virus out there right now.

http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/05/28/net-us-cyberwar-flame-idUSBRE84R0E420120528

"Security experts have discovered a highly sophisticated computer virus in Iran and other Middle East countries that they believe was deployed at least five years ago to engage in state-sponsored cyber espionage.

Evidence suggest that the virus, dubbed Flame, may have been built on behalf of the same nation or nations that commissioned the Stuxnet worm that attacked Iran's nuclear program in 2010, according to Kaspersky Lab, the Russian cyber security software maker that claimed responsibility for discovering the virus.

Kaspersky researchers said on Monday they have yet to determine whether Flame had a specific mission like Stuxnet, and declined to say who they think built it.
...
Flame appears poised to go down in history as the third major cyber weapon uncovered after Stuxnet and its data-stealing cousin Duqu, named after the Star Wars villain."

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