The “Stuxnet” worm has been making headlines since a Belarus-based internet security firm, VirusBlokAda, discovered the malicious software on various computers in Iran. It was identified as the first worm that targeted large scale industrial control systems, specifically, the mechanisms which control the automation of industrial processes (i.e., for controlling machinery in a plant or a factory).
Stuxnet is very sophisticated, and it does more than your average malware. Symantec reports that it can steal industrial secrets in the form of code AND upload its own code to the system, with the horrifying bonus of the injected false code being initially undetectable. This means that the worm has the capacity to control or change the way the system works.
Security experts say that the malware appears to have been designed by a government or a well-funded private group, given its skillful design and the expertise and resources necessary to create it. Some researchers claim that the worm was intended to sabotage Iran’s Bushehr nuclear facility.
I wouldn’t be so quick to believe that these claims are correct. At the same time, I think it’s safe to assume that governments are developing cyber weapons of this sort. Traditional and biological weapons tend to involve a lot of collateral damage. Cyber warfare, on the other hand, would be much cleaner.
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