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Worm Was Perfect for Sabotaging Centrifuges

Posted November 19, 2010 9:24 AM

From NYT > Science:

Experts dissecting the computer worm suspected of being aimed at Iran's nuclear program have determined that it was precisely calibrated in a way that could send nuclear centrifuges wildly out of control. Their conclusion, while not definitive, begins to clear some of the fog around the Stuxnet worm, a malicious program detected earlier this year on computers, primarily in Iran but also India, Indonesia and other countries.

Original article first published in the Science section of the New York Times.

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Anonymous Poster
#1

Re: Worm Was Perfect for Sabotaging Centrifuges

11/19/2010 11:03 AM

Cue evil laughter. Bwaahaaahaaahaa.

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Anonymous Poster
#2

Re: Worm Was Perfect for Sabotaging Centrifuges

11/19/2010 11:40 AM

I don't have a centrifuge, but if that worm gets mutated so as to interfere with the operation of my margarita blender, I'm going to be highly ticked-off.

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#4
In reply to #2

Re: Worm Was Perfect for Sabotaging Centrifuges

11/20/2010 12:22 AM

Not to worry ....... If your blender had the kind of motor that is in those centrifuges you wouldn't be building your own margaritas. You could afford to have them mixed and served for you by some gorgeous young thing in a 5 star resort.

Ed Weldon

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#3

Re: Worm Was Perfect for Sabotaging Centrifuges

11/19/2010 2:41 PM

If the worm was "perfect", then why didn't it end Iran's nuclear program?

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#6
In reply to #3

Re: Worm Was Perfect for Sabotaging Centrifuges

11/20/2010 10:04 PM

Are you so sure it didn't?

Other sources report that it varied the motor drives speed just enough to make the end product, enriched uranium, unusable as fissile material without destroying the centrifuges themselves. The enrichment process requires the motors to run at a precise speed for an extended period of time otherwise the product is useless.

http://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/news/2010/11/clues-suggest-stuxnet-virus-was-built-for-subtle-nuclear-sabotage.ars

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#7
In reply to #3

Re: Worm Was Perfect for Sabotaging Centrifuges

11/22/2010 7:24 PM
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#5

Re: Worm Was Perfect for Sabotaging Centrifuges

11/20/2010 1:38 AM

Did anybody read this on the second page?: "the Stuxnet payload appeared to have been written by a team of highly skilled programmers, while the "dropper" program that delivered the program reflected an amateur level of expertise."

The resources of a nation-state. The programming expertise on this particular control system. The resources to steal 2 certificates. The expertise to take advantage of multiple zero-day vulnerabilities. The knowledge of specific power inverters made in only 2 countries.

And an amateur delivery, guaranteed that it would be caught before it spread too far?

And if you buy that, I've got some beach-front property in Arizona to sell you.

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