No Post on the Stuxnet worm????

[kuku]

I was thinking the Russians: they have more motive, more means and more opportunity.

Possible involvement of a Russian (instead of Russians) if the target was a facility Russian Engineers work on, they could provide very specific detail and access.

[JAD_333]

The US military has banned use of memory sticks on computers dealing with classified info. Some believe Iranians were careless and a stick is how the worm got into their computers (if it did). The Russians might be behind it since they're fueling up Iran's new reactor. As we know the worm is waiting for a Sieman's controller to transmit a specific set of numbers. Thus, one could speculate that that set would alert the Russians that the Iranians are exceeding an agreed upon parameter of normal reactor use. It's a stretch, but possible.

[astralis]

JAD,

The US military has banned use of memory sticks on computers dealing with classified info.

oh, it was bad. someone got a virus onto SIPR due to careless contamination. easiest way to infect computers is still through human error.

[Swift Sword]

I have a distinctly unprofessional opinion...call it a gut inclination...that Moscow is less than sanguine at the prospects of Tehran being in control of the fuel cycle at the least and capable of manufacturing fission weapons with attendant delivery systems at the most.

Israel does not even border Iran and and is to busy...oh never mind.

William

[nvishal]

From KGS nightwatch : 29 December 2010

Israel-Iran: Israeli officials indicated on 29 December that Iran was farther from producing a nuclear weapon than the Israelis have indicated in the past. They now assess Iran is three years from having a nuclear weapon, owing to "technical" problems in the nuclear weapons program.

Comment: Earlier this year and all of 2009 the Israelis claimed Iran might achieve a nuclear weapons capability before 2012. The apparent explanation of the longer time line is the destruction caused by a worm, introduced into Iran's nuclear-related computer system that technical experts claim has virtually destroyed parts of the system.

IT analysts say the Stuxnet worm has destroyed up to 1,000 centrifuges in a key Iranian facility. Explanations of how the worm works are almost beyond belief because of the specificity of its targeting of Iran's nuclear program and its effects in disrupting it.

The IT experts claim the worm only could have been developed by cyber warriors working for national governments because of the resources involved. Some suggest that Israel and several European states pooled their knowledge of Iranian IT systems that support the nuclear program. The technical experts estimated earlier this year that Stuxnet had setback the Iranian nuclear program several years.

Israel has not provided a public explanation for its new, longer assessment on Iran. The implication is that Israel successfully attacked Iran's nuclear program without firing a shot. That is not confirmed, but the prospect is both scary and tonight's good news.