Stuxnet worm reportedly planted by Iranian double agent using memory stick

http://arstechnica.com/business/news/2012/04/stuxnet-worm-reportedly-planted-by-iranian-double-agent-using-memory-stick.ars

by shawndumas • 14 years ago

95 89 14 years ago

arstechnica.com

killnine• 14 years ago

Is this real?

redthrowaway4• 14 years ago

Ars is not known for shoddy reporting. It is, however, basically a rewrite of the original ISSSource article: http://www.isssource.com/stuxnet-loaded-by-iran-double-agent...

kefs• 14 years ago

Ars > ISSSource > Richard Sale > UPI > News World Communications > Unification Church

joering22• 14 years ago

> booby-trapped memory stick

can someone explain what that is??

> Once the memory stick was infected,

huh??

redthrowaway4• 14 years ago

They introduced the worm with an infected USB drive. What did you want clarification on?

joering22• 14 years ago

ok sorry I was confused.

morturus• 14 years ago

US itself and Israel engaged in sabotage of foreign countries development? you don't say...

loverobots3• 14 years ago

Well, Iran's leaders have stated that they wish to wipe Israel off the map. At least Israel has a legitimate reason to what they are doing and then some.

nitrogen2• 14 years ago

That suggests there was a first attack in this conflict; AIUI, the Israel vs. middle east conflict is centuries old, and this is just the latest chapter of escalation and posturing. Once could also argue that Iran is justified in wanting to eliminate Israel because Israel is acting to prevent Iran's growth.

Don't mistake my words for wanting to live in Iran -- I just find myself disgusted when we westerners use a ridiculous double standard when judging our own behavior as compared to that of some country we don't like.

beedogs2• 14 years ago

Nice, more repetition of the same mistranslation.

Even if Iran's goal is to build a nuclear weapon -- which, from all rational reports, doesn't seem to be the case -- I'm having a hard time sympathizing with a country that already has several hundred nuclear warheads trying to prevent another neighboring country from acquiring one.

mahmud2• 14 years ago

Israel did wipe another country off the map: Palestine. Yet we trust them with nukes, which they don't have at all.

justsee3• 14 years ago

No they haven't. That convenient mistranslation is widely reported because it suits the narrative of the major political powers [1].

They've essentially said the current political regime in Israel must / will disappear. However that sentiment is less useful if your aim is to portray the Iranian state as an aggressive, modern-day Nazi regime though.

Anyway that aim (essentially portraying Iran as a country dedicated to the extermination of Jews in the Middle East) completely falls apart in the mind of anyone who cares to review the facts: Iran houses the largest population of Jews in the Middle East outside Israel, with population estimates ranging between 30,000 and 90,000 people (most sources put it at 75 000) [2], and they are represented in the Iranian parliament.

The current Iranian regime is certainly terrible, and can and should be condemned for many reasons, but pushing the notion that Iran threatens Israel with genocide is pr-fueled nonsense. Useless for intelligent discussion, but handy for manipulating public opinion.

[1] http://www.counterpunch.org/2006/08/28/putting-words-in-ahma...

[2] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Persian_Jews

kai-zer• 14 years ago

Development of weapons-grade uranium for which the only purpose is for use in weapons of mass destruction...

You make it sound like that is a bad thing.

AngrySkillzz• 14 years ago

A statement for which you have no evidence. And what threat does Iran pose to the United States? None at all.

beedogs2• 14 years ago

...or energy production. But, yeah, let's just say they're going to make a nuclear weapon, so that we can be "justified" when we invade them for their resources.

statictype• 14 years ago

... and there goes the rest of this comment thread down the politics rat hole.

caf• 14 years ago

Without wanting to downplay the seriousness of Iran's nuclear program, this is incorrect on two counts. Firstly, Iran has not enriched to weapons-grade - the highest levels it has gone to is just under 20%, which is still LEU (Low-Enriched Uranium).

Secondly, there are other uses for weapons-grade HEU other than weapons - for example, Brazil enriches to weapons-grade to produce fuel elements for its nuclear submarines (HEU is used in naval reactors so that they can be more compact). Iran doesn't have naval reactors, though.

micahgoulart• 14 years ago

One has to question the reason why this information was leaked now. My guess is that Israel or the US wants Iran to be paranoid about a secret agent within their nuclear facilities and go hunting for a mole. Imagine if Israel planted evidence on a prominent Iranian physicist? Good luck proving your innocence.

The whole Stuxnet story would make for a great spy novel, that's for sure.

kposehn• 14 years ago

We've been at covert war with them for some time, and this is just another shot fired.

That said, one hell of a shot. They hit Iran, Syria, Russia, China (and Germany!) with one little leaked bullet...each of those countries is eyeing their industrial processes and engineers just a but more closely after today.

redwood• 14 years ago

Very interesting take: in other words maybe the infection did really come from a russian technician as originally reported, but now the "leak" will add doubt within the scientist circles. Still it feels the Iranians are one step ahead in much of this. After all the stuxnet failed

andrewfelix5• 14 years ago

There's no subtlety to what Israel is doing. They aren't encouraging paranoia or planting evidence, they're literally killing the scientists involved. I don't care which side of the fence you sit on, assassinating scientists for a presumed 'greater good' is awful.

tkahn65• 14 years ago

Here's your subtlety: http://english.farsnews.com/newstext.php?nn=9010175602

> Wife of Assassinated Scientist: Annihilation of Israel "Mostafa's Ultimate Goal"

philwelch9• 14 years ago

That's a disingenuous argument. If you're building nuclear weapons for a hostile government, you're as much a target as anyone else. It doesn't matter if you're a scientist or a solider.

cema• 14 years ago

What a sad reading this whole thread is.

Stuxnet worm reportedly planted by Iranian double agent using memory stick

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