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New Research Confirms Iran's Nuclear Program Was Target of Stuxnet Worm

(Washington Post) Glenn Kessler - The Stuxnet computer worm that infiltrated industrial systems in Iran this fall may have been specifically designed to attack the country's nuclear program. On Friday a Stuxnet researcher at Symantec said the worm targets industrial systems with high frequency "converter drives" from two specific vendors, including one in Iran. Independently, Langner Communications of Germany on Sunday discovered that another part of the worm's attack code is configured to match the structure of a turbine control system for steam turbines used in power plants, such as those installed at the Bushehr nuclear power plant in Iran. Langner also confirmed that the worm appears to attack key components of centrifuges. "Rigging the speed control is a very clever way of causing the machines to fly apart," said Ivanka Barzashka, a research associate at the Federation of American Scientists. "If Symantec's analysis is true, then Stuxnet likely aimed to destroy Iran's gas centrifuges, which could produce enriched uranium for both nuclear fuel and nuclear bombs."
2010-11-16 09:58:11
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