Saturday, June 2, 2012

Stuxnet Work of US and Israel


I don't think this is any surprise.

Stuxnet was work of U.S. and Israeli experts, officials say

http://www.washingtonpost.com/world/national-security/stuxnet-was-work-of-us-and-israeli-experts-officials-say/2012/06/01/gJQAlnEy6U_story.html?wpisrc=nl_headlines_Sat

By Ellen Nakashima and Joby Warrick, Published: June 1The Washington Post A damaging

[Excerpt] the "cyberattack against Iran’s nuclear program was the work of U.S. and Israeli experts and proceeded under the secret orders of President Obama, who was eager to slow that nation’s apparent progress toward building an atomic bomb without launching a traditional military attack, say current and former U.S. officials.

"The officials, speaking on the condition of anonymity to describe the classified effort code-named Olympic Games, said it was first developed during the George W. Bush administration and was geared toward damaging Iran’s nuclear capability gradually while sowing confusion among Iranian scientists about the cause of mishaps at a nuclear plant.

"The use of the cyberweapon — malware designed to infiltrate and damage systems run by computers — was supposed to make the Iranians think that their engineers were incapable of running an enrichment facility"

[end excerpt] Read article at link above

Apparently the Obama officials ordered the program to continue after some US official expressed concern about the virus' spread on the Internet

Stuxnet reportedly destroyed 1000 of Iran's 6000 centrifuges, which enrich uranium.

Majia here: The article is very interesting and illustrates an important way war is being waged without congressional approval in the 21st century.

My fear is that this type of cyber-war could lead to nuclear meltdowns.

Not only that, but the proliferation of war by other means -- cyberwar, drones, weather warfare -- is combined with a culture of secrecy that is fundamentally anti-democratic.

There is now a new virus that is believed to be made by the same organization that made Stuxnet
http://majiasblog.blogspot.com/2012/05/new-computer-virus-larger-than-stuxnet.html

UPDATE

See the New York Times' long article on Stuxnet Obama Order Sped Up Wave of Cyberattacks Against Iran By DAVID E. SANGER
http://www.nytimes.com/2012/06/01/world/middleeast/obama-ordered-wave-of-cyberattacks-against-iran.html?nl=todaysheadlines&emc=edit_th_20120601 

1 comment:

  1. It is also believed that the nuclear meltdown at the Fukusihima nuclear power plant was caused by the Stuxnet virus, introduced into the plant's computer systems by Israeli hackers in revenge for Japan's oil deal with Iran, not the 9.0 earthquake and tsunami.

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