Source: Network World
Bruce Schneier, noted security expert and author, whose most recent book is “Liars and Outliers,” argues the U.S. made a mistake with Stuxnet, and he discusses why it’s important for the world to tackle cyber-arms control now in an interview with Network World senior editor Ellen Messmer.
Tag Archives: Stuxnet
Stuxnet cyberattack by US ‘destabilizing and dangerous’, Bruce Schneier says
June 18, 2012 – 2:21 am
Richard Clarke says Stuxnet was a US Operation
March 29, 2012 – 9:13 pm
Source: Jack Goldsmith, Lawfare
The former counterterrorism czar reaches this conclusion because the operation had lawyers’ fingerprints on it.
Israel mulls creation of elite counter-cyberterrorist unit
April 7, 2011 – 10:53 am
“Israel is mulling the creation of a counter-cyberterrorism unit designed to safeguard both government agencies and core private sector firms against hacking attacks.
The proposed unit would supplement the efforts of Mossad and other agencies in fighting cyberespionage and denial of service attacks. Israel is, of course, a prime target for hackers from the Muslim world.
The country’s hi-tech industries also make it an interesting target for cyberespionage from government-sponsored hackers from China and elsewhere.”
From The Register
US and Israel were behind Stuxnet claims researcher
March 4, 2011 – 1:22 pm
“Israel and the United States created the Stuxnet worm to sabotage Iran’s nuclear programme, a leading security expert has claimed.
Ralph Langner told a conference in California that the malicious software was designed to cripple systems that could help build an Iranian bomb.
Mr Langner was one of the first researchers to show how Stuxnet could take control of industrial equipment.
It is widely believed that its target was machinery used to enrich uranium.”
From BBC News
World leaders meet to discuss cyberwar rules of engagement
February 4, 2011 – 1:26 pm
“Rules of engagement for the deployment of cyber-weapons need to be developed, an international security conference is due to be told later today.
The influential EastWest Institute is due to present proposals for the cyberspace equivalent of the Geneva convention at the Munich Security Conference, which has included a debate on cyber-security on its agenda for the first time this year. Delegates to the conference include UK Prime Minister David Cameron, German Chancellor Angela Merkel, US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov.”
From The Register
Iran says Stuxnet claims need investigating
February 4, 2011 – 12:40 pm
“”The acting head of Iran’s Atomic Energy Organization said reports of major damage to the Bushehr plant were a malicious campaign by countries hostile to Tehran’s nuclear program, but that they should be looked into in any case.
Many analysts believe Stuxnet was a cyber attack by the United States and Israel aimed at disabling Iran’s nuclear equipment and slowing down a program they believe is aimed at making nuclear weapons, something Tehran denies.”
From Reuters
25 Years of Digital Vandalism
January 26, 2011 – 12:27 pm
“In January 1986, Basit and Amjad Alvi, programmers living Pakistan, wrote a piece of code to safeguard the latest version of their heart-monitoring software from piracy. They called it Brain, and it was basically a wheel-clamp for PCs. Computers that ran their program, plus this new bit of code, would stop working after a year, though they cheerfully provided three telephone numbers, against the day. If you were a legitimate user, and could prove it, they’d unlock you.
But in the way of all emergent technologies, something entirely unintended happened. The Alvis’ wheel-clamp was soon copied by a certain stripe of computer hobbyist, who began to distribute it, concealed within various digital documents that people might be expected to want to open.
At the time, I found it surprising that these virus-writers were apparently amateurs, civilians. I had imagined computer viruses as strategic military weapons, the business of governments, not practical jokers. Viruses might be sometimes purloined by specialist criminals looking for a big score but were never something one could cobble together at home.”
From The New York Times
Iran’s nuclear setback
January 21, 2011 – 2:07 pm
“Iran’s nuclear programme is under the spotlight again this week; diplomats from the five permanent members of the UN security council plus Germany are in Istanbul for talks with Saeed Jalili, Iran’s chief nuclear negotiator.
Iran is under pressure to prove that its nuclear activities are peaceful. The US has warned of more sanctions if the government does not cooperate.”
From Al Jazeera
Iran seeks to boost corps of web watchers
January 19, 2011 – 2:13 pm
“DUBAI, United Arab Emirates – Iran’s top police chief envisions a new beat for his forces: patrolling cyberspace.
‘There is no time to wait,’ Gen. Ismail Ahmadi Moghaddam said last week at the opening of a new police headquarters in the Shiite seminary city of Qom. ‘We will have cyber police all over Iran.’
The first web watchdog squads are planned in Tehran this month — another step in Iran’s rapidly expanding focus on the digital world as cyber warfare and online sleuthing take greater prominence with the Pentagon’s new Cyber Command and the secrets spilled to WikiLeaks.”
From Yahoo! News
Stuxnet computer virus ‘in hands of criminal gangs’
November 25, 2010 – 6:18 pm
“The Stuxnet worm first came to the attention of security experts in June, who believe it may have been designed to target critical infrastructures and computer systems, such as sanitation plants and food distribution networks.
The virus is thought to have been used to disrupt Iran’s nuclear power stations. However, Government sources denied reports on Sky News that there was evidence the virus had already been obtained by criminals.”
From The Telegraph
