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Mystery Surrounds Cyber Missile That Crippled Iran's Nuclear Weapons Ambitions
Fox News ^ | 11/26/10 | Ed Barnes

Posted on 11/26/2010 11:17:09 AM PST by Ron C.

In the 20th century, this would have been a job for James Bond.

The mission: Infiltrate the highly advanced, securely guarded enemy headquarters where scientists in the clutches of an evil master are secretly building a weapon that can destroy the world. Then render that weapon harmless and escape undetected.

But in the 21st century, Bond doesn't get the call. Instead, the job is handled by a suave and very sophisticated secret computer worm, a jumble of code called Stuxnet, which in the last year has not only crippled Iran's nuclear program but has caused a major rethinking of computer security around the globe

Read more: http://www.foxnews.com/scitech/2010/11/26/secret-agent-crippled-irans-nuclear-ambitions/#ixzz16PtfOuhu

(Excerpt) Read more at foxnews.com ...


TOPICS: Breaking News; Front Page News; News/Current Events; War on Terror
KEYWORDS: computer; cyberwar; hitech; iran; israel; nuclear; reactor; stuxnet; tech; worm
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To: Ron C.

Amazing read. And while I’m thankful that this happened and for al the right reasons, it also makes one wonder what would happen if something like this fell into the wrong hands?


81 posted on 11/26/2010 7:00:10 PM PST by SueRae (I can see November 2012 from my HOUSE!!!!!!!!)
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To: Ron C.

Ever wonder why the U.S. hung back on doing something about Iran all through the Bush years?

My vote goes to a very secret U.S. gov’t. project begun under W. So secret, it was kept from the incoming administration, including you-know-who. Seimens has facilities in the U.S. - besides, why wouldn’t they cooperate? After all, there’s almost no country in the world that doesn’t benefit when Iran’s nuclear capability is negatively impacted, even Iran itself.


82 posted on 11/26/2010 7:24:19 PM PST by Natural Born 54 (FUBO x 10)
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To: Ron C.

Anybody who loads Windows on a enterprise machine, deserves the downtime.

Not so much a worm but more like a parasite, from answers.com

Parasite:

1. Biology. An organism that grows, feeds, and is sheltered on or in a different organism while contributing nothing to the survival of its host.

2. a. One who habitually takes advantage of the generosity of others without making any useful return.

3. A professional dinner guest, especially in ancient Greece.

Upon discovery when allowing 24 hours to purge itself while blocking notification routes was a nice touch.


83 posted on 11/26/2010 7:30:48 PM PST by Razzz42
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To: Cicero

Maybe it was Putin who inserted the worm. Maybe all the “help” he gave them was just to get access so the computer destroying program could be installed. Russians have used cyber attacks in the past. Maybe a nice trade treaty will go into effect between Israel and Russia in the next few weeks.


84 posted on 11/26/2010 7:52:57 PM PST by Forward the Light Brigade (Into the Jaws of H*ll)
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To: smith288; onona

I think your first response was correct.

There is no reason to think that real-time reporting was necessary for this operation.

It appears that the plan was was to wait patiently for the worm to propagate via flash drives, etc, until the target machines were reached.

Reporting was simply a retrograde operation.


85 posted on 11/26/2010 8:41:52 PM PST by jonno (Having an opinion is not the same as having the answer...)
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To: Ron C.
Prayers answered by Saint Wormwood, ha ha

The construction of the worm was so advanced, it was “like the arrival of an F-35 into a World War I battlefield,” says Ralph Langner, the computer expert who was the first to sound the alarm about Stuxnet. Others have called it the first “weaponized” computer virus.

Simply put, Stuxnet is an incredibly advanced, undetectable computer worm that took years to construct and was designed to jump from computer to computer until it found the specific, protected control system that it aimed to destroy: Iran’s nuclear enrichment program.

....Bwhahahahahaha wormy worm worm...wiggley worm screws the pooch, whittl,wattle ringworm...hahahahah this is hilariously cool....hee hee hee hee...

When it ultimately found its target, it would have to secretly manipulate it until it was so compromised it ceased normal functions.

And finally, after the job was done, the worm would have to destroy itself without leaving a trace.

Call to Iran's FAVORITE song five times a day! Rock the casbahhahahahahahahah OBamajad don't like it

86 posted on 11/26/2010 9:25:16 PM PST by Karliner (Now this is not the end. .... But it is, perhaps, the end of the beginning, Churchill 1942)
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To: Ron C.

I think the object lesson for US Citizens is what happens to our electrical grid and who knows what other infrastructure grids if we ever get into a hot war with China (the presumed party behind the majority of such infiltrations).

They are despotic, brutal, tyrannical, but they are damned impressive in implementing a long-term plan to help the US cripple itself and become vulnerable.


87 posted on 11/26/2010 10:38:08 PM PST by WoofDog123
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To: americanophile

your post is prophetic on the topic.


88 posted on 11/26/2010 11:42:26 PM PST by WoofDog123
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To: Ron C.

Thanks for the additional comments Ron. I’ve been watching reports of China executing cyber-warfare activities. I don’t like what I see, and in fact see this as more of the down-side I was fearful we would realize for gifting China with technology and financing it’s meteoric rise to global prominence.

I don’t think there is a better example of a nation doing it’s best to destroy itself than the United States over the last twenty-two years.


89 posted on 11/26/2010 11:48:05 PM PST by DoughtyOne (Your next chance like this? About 2044. Vote popularity and don't waste time with the details.)
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To: 1010RD

shah had better costume and wardrobe crew.


90 posted on 11/26/2010 11:56:26 PM PST by rahbert
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To: Ron C.
One of the most interesting technical post mortems I've ever read.
91 posted on 11/27/2010 12:21:47 AM PST by steve86
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To: mad_as_he$$

“NSA/CIA.”

Amen. And our diplomatic posture over the last 5-6 years makes COMPLETE sense if you factor Stux into the decision making matrix.


92 posted on 11/27/2010 12:48:55 AM PST by REDWOOD99
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To: garjog; P-Marlowe

Too easy for a story like this to be misinformation designed to ease feelings about Iranian nuke progress.

No plants destroyed, no one injured, no visible or measurable change in facilities. Yet, we’re to “believe” that everything has been put out of commission.

I’d prefer a smoking ruin to be honest with you.

This story could be the real deadf007


93 posted on 11/27/2010 2:31:49 AM PST by xzins (Retired Army Chaplain & proud of it: Truly Supporting the Troops means praying for their Victory!)
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To: Cicero
"But why did Siemens in Germany or the Finns help Iran?"

My thinking is the German and Finnish governments' ambitions for the European Union had them eye Iran as an eventual member to financially support the European nations' consortium.

I do believe the aid to Iran was EU instigated....

94 posted on 11/27/2010 5:01:40 AM PST by azhenfud (The government is not best which secures life and property-there is a more valuable thing-manhood.)
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To: bareford101
"that really looks like a chew-wad in the lower face...."

I understand since Thanksgiving, his capacity to handle said wad has been diminished.

95 posted on 11/27/2010 5:04:23 AM PST by azhenfud (The government is not best which secures life and property-there is a more valuable thing-manhood.)
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To: Ron C.
"In one case they found the word “Myrtus” embedded in the code and argued that it was a reference to Esther, the biblical figure who saved the ancient Jewish state from the Persians."

Just like a Joel Rosenberg novel!

96 posted on 11/27/2010 5:08:04 AM PST by azhenfud (The government is not best which secures life and property-there is a more valuable thing-manhood.)
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To: prairiebreeze

bump for reading later


97 posted on 11/27/2010 5:13:47 AM PST by prairiebreeze (The Professional Left: Using Your Money to Promote Their Ideology Since the 1930's)
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To: Ron C.
a jumble of code called Stuxnet, jumble??? please...
98 posted on 11/27/2010 5:56:03 AM PST by Chode (American Hedonist - *DTOM* -ww- NO Pity for the LAZY)
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To: Ron C.

When the evil mullahs CRUSHED Iran’s last shot at democracy after the last election—the MOSSAD has had a hard time processing all the Iranians who want to work for them.


99 posted on 11/27/2010 6:27:28 AM PST by Happy Rain ("GO GAMECOCKS--THE REAL USC!!!")
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To: Ron C.
They did not have computers in the Manhattan Project. A-Bomb technology is so old it is easy to build the bomb now. The Uranium is the hard part.
100 posted on 11/27/2010 6:46:44 AM PST by screaminsunshine (Americanism vs Communism)
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