In a Computer Worm, a Possible Biblical Clue (Myrtus)

NYT via CNBC ^ | Thursday, 30 Sep 2010 | 8:06 AM ET | John Markoff and David E. Sanger

[Pan_Yan]

Deep inside the computer worm that some specialists suspect is aimed at slowing Iran’s race for a nuclear weapon lies what could be a fleeting reference to the Book of Esther, the Old Testament tale in which the Jews pre-empt a Persian plot to destroy them.

That use of the word “Myrtus” — which can be read as an allusion to Esther — to name a file inside the code is one of several murky clues that have emerged as computer experts try to trace the origin and purpose of the rogue Stuxnet program, which seeks out a specific kind of command module for industrial equipment.

Not surprisingly, the Israelis are not saying whether Stuxnet has any connection to the secretive cyberwar unit it has built inside Israel’s intelligence service. Nor is the Obama administration, which while talking about cyberdefenses has also rapidly ramped up a broad covert program, inherited from the Bush administration, to undermine Iran’s nuclear program. In interviews in several countries, experts in both cyberwar and nuclear enrichment technology say the Stuxnet mystery may never be solved.

There are many competing explanations for myrtus, which could simply signify myrtle, a plant important to many cultures in the region. But some security experts see the reference as a signature allusion to Esther, a clear warning in a mounting technological and psychological battle as Israel and its allies try to breach Tehran’s most heavily guarded project. Others doubt the Israelis were involved and say the word could have been inserted as deliberate misinformation, to implicate Israel.

[Jewbacca]

“It can certainly leave subtler clues visible to satellites”

Achmed — why are the lights in our parking lot forming Star of David?

Mohammed — don’t know, the computer is acting funny.

[Diogenesis]

knittnmom was being sarcastic ... and correct.
The whining of press is a barometer somewhat to the
location of infected PCs illuminating a pathway of
stuxnet-identified contraband.

[null and void]

Guava? How about malus aforethought?

[agere_contra]

LOL.

Or maybe the virus could phone up the Tel Aviv Stock Exchange and start making extremely low bids on the Iranian futures market.

[GOPJ]

Oh I get it, The New York Times and CNBC are NOW into the Bible Code.

We already know which side those two groups are on...

[knittnmom]

Thanks for answering my question.

My own opinion of hackers is that, if they'd had my parents, they'd never have found time to be malicious. Every time we even looked like we might be bored, we were sent to clean the barn when we lived on a farm, and the basement when we moved into town. Both were tasks equal to Hercules' cleaning the stables - and we didn't have a river to divert! :-)

[ScreamingFist]

“Myrtus” or “myrtle” in English is one of the four plants utilized during Sukkot (which was just now -— when the virus “went off”).

Stuxnet began infecting systems in January 2009.....Merry Christmas......

[Jewbacca]

Yes, but it didn’t go “active” until last week.

It’s harmless, unless turned on by C&C servers -— two, I believe in obscure countries.

[ScreamingFist]

“Yes, but it didn’t go “active” until last week.”

Most seem to be of the opinion that it already did what it was supposed to do......we’re discussing it here..

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/bloggers/2599106/posts?q=1&;page=51

[ataDude]

Don’t overlook the facts that Siemens, a German company, and Russia (and others) have provided Iran with the technology to enable the nuclear technology.

Ba$tard$ all.

[TheThirdRuffian]

“Dude, I think Stuxnet has corrupted your politeness chip.”

Fair enough observation and correct.

I apologize. I’ve been very “snippy” to everyone.

[Chode]

deajvu all over again...

In January 1982, President Ronald Reagan approved a CIA plan to sabotage the economy of the Soviet Union through covert transfers of technology that contained hidden malfunctions, including software that later triggered a huge explosion in a Siberian natural gas pipeline, according to a new memoir by a Reagan White House official.

Thomas C. Reed, a former Air Force secretary who was serving in the National Security Council at the time, describes the episode in "At the Abyss: An Insider's History of the Cold War," to be published next month by Ballantine Books. Reed writes that the pipeline explosion was just one example of "cold-eyed economic warfare" against the Soviet Union that the CIA carried out under Director William J. Casey during the final years of the Cold War.

At the time, the United States was attempting to block Western Europe from importing Soviet natural gas. There were also signs that the Soviets were trying to steal a wide variety of Western technology.

Then, a KGB insider revealed the specific shopping list and the CIA slipped the flawed software to the Soviets in a way they would not

'Programmed to go haywire' "In order to disrupt the Soviet gas supply, its hard currency earnings from the West, and the internal Russian economy, the pipeline software that was to run the pumps, turbines, and valves was programmed to go haywire, after a decent interval, to reset pump speeds and valve settings to produce pressures far beyond those acceptable to pipeline joints and welds," Reed writes.

"The result was the most monumental nonnuclear explosion and fire ever seen from space," he recalls, adding that U.S. satellites picked up the explosion. Reed said in an interview that the blast occurred in the summer of 1982.

"While there were no physical casualties from the pipeline explosion, there was significant damage to the Soviet economy," he writes. "Its ultimate bankruptcy, not a bloody battle or nuclear exchange, is what brought the Cold War to an end. In time the Soviets came to understand that they had been stealing bogus technology, but now what were they to do? By implication, every cell of the Soviet leviathan might be infected. They had no way of knowing which equipment was sound, which was bogus. All was suspect, which was the intended endgame for the entire operation."

Reed said he obtained CIA approval to publish details about the operation. The CIA learned of the full extent of the KGB's pursuit of Western technology in an intelligence operation known as the Farewell Story continues below ↓

read the rest here...http://www.industrialdefender.com/general_downloads/incidents/1982.06_trans_siberian_gas_pipeline_explosion.pdf

[Pan_Yan]

Cold fusion, anyone?

[infowarrior]

Don’t overlook the facts that Siemens, a German company,

A fact I was not aware of, but should have been. At any rate, this datum only fuels the contempt I have for Siemens even deeper...

the infowarrior

[knittnmom]

Thank you.