Posted on 09/25/2010 12:18:11 PM PDT by Reaganite Republican
Stuxnet is believed to be the most destructive virus ever devised for attacking major industrial complexes, reactors and infrastructure... and it's hitting Tehran HARD
The Islamic Republic of Iran looks to be in the midst of a major ongoing cyber attack upon it's most vital computer systems by the unprecedentedly menacing Stuxnet virus... including nuclear reactors and other sensitive facilities:
____________________________________________
Mahmoud Alyaee, secretary-general of Iran's industrial computer servers, including its nuclear facilities control systems, confirmed Saturday, Sept. 25, that 30,000 computers belonging to classified industrial units had been infected and disabled by the malicious Stuxnet virus.
This followed DEBKAfile's exclusive report Thursday, Sept. 23, from its Washington and defense sources that a clandestine cyber war is being fought against Iran by the United States with elite cyber war units established by Israel. Stuxnet is believed to be the most destructive virus ever devised for attacking major industrial complexes, reactors and infrastructure.
The experts say it is beyond the capabilities of private or individual hackers and could have been produced by a high-tech state like America or Israel, or its military cyber specialists. The Iranian official said Stuxnet had been designed to strike the industrial control systems in Iran manufactured by the German Siemens and transfer classified data abroad.
The head of the Pentagon's cyber war department, Vice Adm. Bernard McCullough said Thursday, Sept. 22, that Stuxnet had capabilities never seen before. In a briefing to the Armed Forces Committee of US Congress, he testified that it was regarded as the most advanced and sophisticated piece of Malware to date.
According to Alyaee, the virus began attacking Iranian industrial systems two months ago. He had no doubt that Iran was the victim of a cyber attack which its anti-terror computer experts had so far failed to fight. Stuxnet is powerful enough to change an entire environment, he said without elaborating.
Not only has it taken control of automatic industrial systems, but has raided them for classified information and transferred the date abroad. This was the first time an Iranian official has explained how the United States and Israel intelligence agencies have been able to keep pace step by step of progress made in Iran's nuclear program. Until now, Tehran attributed the leaks to Western spies using Iranian double agents...
__________________________________________
Leaks by American security sources to US media referred to the recruitment by Israel military and security agencies of cyber raiders with the technical knowhow and mental toughness for operating in difficult and hazardous circumstances, such as assignments for stealing or destroying enemy technology, according to one report.
DEBKAfile's sources disclose that Israel has had special elite units carrying out such assignments for some time. Three years ago, for instance, cyber raiders played a role in the destruction of the plutonium reactor North Korea was building at A-Zur in northern Syria.
Some computer security specialists reported speculated that the virus was devised specifically to target part of the Iranian nuclear infrastructure, either the Bushehr nuclear plant activated last month - which has not been confirmed - or the centrifuge facility in Natanz.
DEBKAfile's sources add: Since August, American and UN nuclear watchdog sources have been reporting a slowdown in Iran's enrichment processing due to technical problems which have knocked out a large number of centrifuges and which its nuclear technicians have been unable to repair. It is estimated that at Natanz alone, 3,000 centrifuges have been idled...
____________________________________________
About time we started employing our nation's dramatic technological advantages over these medieval savages... why we wouldn't throw all we got at 'em is beyond me. At minimum, buys us time until we are forced to go with John Bolton's more traditional approach...
More @ Reaganite Republican
Achmed! Are you feeling lucky today?
DEBKA is often unreliable. This might be correct this time, but often it is not.
FUD never hurts when it comes to the mullahs in Iran.
I would be very surprised if the Kenyan allowed the US to be part of a cyberattack on a muslim country.
Unless someone had “the goods” on him and is squeezing his n-ts, if he had any!
But, he would enjoy having a rumor like this circulate so he looks like he's being proactive.
Achmed the tech never should gone to that darn “Goats gone Wild” web site.
BUMP
Wrong, wrong, wrong.
If we had that kind of virus, obama would have used it against our economy a long time ago.
Much obliged, KitKat
I guess all systems will have to be set on MANUAL when this is done. hahaha
lolol ;))
Well, could be.
“Sophisticated” cyber attack by a government agency, or some high school kid having fun?
Yes, FUD is good for dealing with the Mullahs. A “glass parking lot device” would be longer term solution.</B>
Nor do I, it is professional courtesy that he not interfere with another Muzzie dictator. Nor would he allow us to deal with Iran with a bombing raid. The only way that might happen is if his Saudi masters (some of his masters) wanted to punish Iran. That is a possibility. All Muzzies are not alike. The Wahhabi muzzies do not particulary like the Sunni or Shia muzzies.
I was reading how the enemies of Israel all kill each other when the Messiah returns. This makes lots of sense.
Even Rush is “unreliable” once in a while...
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.