Jun 01, 2012 when stuxnet was deployed in 2009 by the us and israel, it was originally designed to stay within irans natanz uranium enrichment plant, damaging siemens industrial equipment but a. How stuxnet is rewriting the cyberterrorism playbook. Stuxnet and the dangers of cyberwar by vincent manzo operation olympic games, more commonly known as the stuxnet worm, damaged irans centrifuges and delayed its. Cyberwar comes of age quite simply, cyberwar is reality. Stuxnet, a computer worm, discovered in june 2010, that was specifically written to take over certain programmable industrial control systems and cause the equipment run by those systems to malfunction, all the while feeding false data to the systems monitors indicating the equipment to be running. Although neither country has openly admitted responsibility, the worm is widely understood to be a jointly built americanisraeli cyberweapon. The stuxnet outbreak has been concentrated in iran, which suggests that a nuclear facility in that country was the intended target. Us and israel created stuxnet, lost control of it stuxnet was never meant to propagate in the wild.
Stuxnet source code released online download now stuxnet is a microsoft windows computer worm discovered in july 2010 that targets industrial software and equipment. What is stuxnet, who created it and how does it work. The new york times published a story that pointed to u. The worm exploited a zeroday vulnerability in windows. While it is not the first time that hackers have targeted industrial systems, nor the first publicly known intentional act of cyberwarfare to be implemented, it is the first discovered malware that spies on and subverts industrial systems, and the first to. An unprecedented look at stuxnet, the worlds first digital. Alex gibneys new documentary, zero days, looks at the stuxnet worm a cyber weapon developed by the u. Attackers have executed webbased dos and resetting plc attacks by. It might be long over, but there are important things for cybersecurity pros to learn from its outbreak that could affect everyone. Stuxnet attacks iran again, reports say the worm apparently was aimed at a power plant and other sites in southern iran but was thwarted. When stuxnet was deployed in 2009 by the us and israel, it was originally designed to stay within irans natanz uranium enrichment plant, damaging siemens industrial equipment but a. Understanding stuxnet and other covert responses to the iranian nuclear program duration. Stuxnet and the dangers of cyberwar by vincent manzo operation olympic games, more commonly known as the stuxnet worm, damaged irans centrifuges and delayed its uranium enrichment efforts.
How stuxnet cyber weapon targeted iran nuclear plant. Jul 22, 2011 this paper finds that the stuxnet attack does in fact rise to the level of an armed attack within the meaning of ihl and adheres to the principles of distinction and proportionality. Based on the log files in stuxnet, a company called foolad technic was the first victim. What stuxnets exposure as an american weapon means for. While it is not the first time that crackers have targeted industrial systems,it is the first discovered malware that spies on and subverts industrial systems,and the first to. Jul 04, 2016 documentary explores the cyberwar secrets of stuxnet alex gibneys new documentary, zero days, looks at the stuxnet worm a cyber weapon developed by the u. Stuxnet and cyber deterrence stuxnet showed that a nationstate was capable and willing to use an advanced cyber weapon against an adversary.
Stuxnet had initially grabbed the tech worlds attention as a hack of the windows operating systema virus that exploited an unknown vulnerability. Analysts in government and industry are learning more about the complex stuxnet worm, a sophisticated and apparently purposelybuilt cyber weapon designed. Stuxnet was a big campaign, he says, by virtue of its use of a combination of software, its attack vectors, its use of digital certificates. It is believed that stuxnet spread through infected usb flash drives. So, as a matter of fact, as i see it, cyberwar attacks as we have just seen are actually, right now, less likely than before stuxnet because the element of surprise is missing. Nov 15, 2016 cyberwar season 1 episode 1 stuxnet the digital weapon. In july 2010 a computer virus attacked a nuclear facility in iran. Contribute to micrictorstuxnet development by creating an account on github. Nov 29, 2010 stuxnet shows cyber war is trickier than it may seem. The stuxnet attack on iran was an illegal act of force, according to at least some of the legal experts who helped draw up a natocommissioned geneva conventionstyle. Maybe it will turn out that stuxnet was little more than the overhyped tech version of the recent. New stuxnet documentary that debuts tomorrow in berlin reportedly reveals how israel blew its cover, and the worm just one element of a much larger usisrael cyber spy operation in iran. Security experts and partners debate the potential techwar and.
News about cyberattacks on iran stuxnet and flame, including commentary and archival articles published in the new york times. The original stuxnet malware attack targeted the programmable logic controllers plcs used to automate machine processes. Stuxnet is a malicious computer worm, first uncovered in 2010, thought to have been in development since at least 2005. Stuxnet worm heralds new era of global cyberwar technology. Stuxnet targets scada systems and is believed to be responsible for causing substantial damage to irans nuclear program. Analysts in government and industry are learning more about the complex stuxnet worm, a sophisticated and apparently purposelybuilt cyber weapon designed to attack specific automated industrial control systems. If its still unclear exactly what the stuxnet worm was meant to target, its possible that we wont entirely understand the consequences of this now notorious malware attack for many years to come. Stuxnet shows cyber war is trickier than it may seem.
The stuxnet software is designed to attack only designated targets and was thus. Stuxnet is a computer worm that was originally aimed at irans nuclear facilities and has since mutated and spread to other industrial and energyproducing facilities. Stuxnet, a computer worm, discovered in june 2010, that was specifically written to take over certain programmable industrial control systems and cause the equipment run by those systems to malfunction, all the while feeding false data to the systems monitors indicating the equipment to be running as intended as analyzed by computer security experts around the world, stuxnet targeted certain. If the stuxnet attack on iran was a limited act of cyber sabotage, on tuesday the. Stuxnet was a wake up call for the nuclear industry, according to andrea cavina, nuclear security professional at. Stuxnet was one of the most advanced malware attacks in history. Stuxnet, cyberwar, cyberwarfare, law of war, ihl, humanitarian law, virus, iran, natanz, proportionality, distinction. If a worker stuck a usb thumb drive into an infected machine, stuxnet could, well. It generated a flurry of media attention after it was. If the stuxnet attack on iran was a limited act of cyber sabotage, on tuesday the us attempted to imagine what an allout. Sheldon tuesday, april 19, 2011 in june 2009, a computer worm called stuxnet was unleashed against the nuclear enrichment plant at natanz, iran.
Stuxnet and the dangers of cyberwar the national interest. Cyberwar season 1 episode 1 stuxnet the digital weapon. A fascinating new documentary film by alex gibney called zero days that premieres on friday tells the story of stuxnet, along with the frightening takeaway that, while this was the first cyber. With mehdi aroom, alireza salehi, ali abbasnejad, ismael zabihi. Sep 09, 2011 stuxnet also always sets the flags equal 11 or 3 and that means that the stuxnet file is encrypted and needs to be decrypted and that the driver must read and decrypt it and then allocate memory in the infected process equal the size of the file to copy the file in. Iran denies that stuxnet did any major damage to its nuclear program. This paper finds that the stuxnet attack does in fact rise to the level of an armed attack within the meaning of ihl and adheres to the principles of distinction and proportionality. Such a destructive cyberterrorist attack could virtually paralyze the nation. Zero days film tells the true story of the stuxnet cyber. A new derivative of stuxnet, dubbed duqu is now making the rounds, though its purpose and target are.
For those who have never heard of it, stuxnet is a computer worm that targets industrial control systems. Thanks to stuxnet, we now live in a world where code can destroy machinery and stop or start a war. Computer viruss evident success in damaging irans nuclear facility has officials asking if our own infrastructure is safe. The worm then propagates across the network, scanning for siemens step7 software on computers controlling a plc. Using the said identifier enables systems affected by stuxnet to identify, communicate with, and update one another. Stuxnet is computer malware first discovered in july, 2010 that mainly targeted windows pcs and other industrial software and equipment. Nov 02, 2011 stuxnet raises blowback risk in cyberwar the stuxnet computer worm successfully damaged centrifuges at a nuclear facility in iran.
A new derivative of stuxnet, dubbed duqu is now making the. Stuxnet raises blowback risk in cyberwar the stuxnet computer worm successfully damaged centrifuges at a nuclear facility in iran. Cyberwar playbook says stuxnet may have been armed attack. In 2010, the stuxnet malware gained global notoriety as a weapon of cyberwar against iran. In the absence of either criterion, stuxnet becomes dormant inside the computer. Richard clarke on who was behind the stuxnet attack. Documentary explores the cyberwar secrets of stuxnet. The world now knows it as stuxnet and it has ushered in a whole new era of cyber warfare.
Stuxnet also always sets the flags equal 11 or 3 and that means that the stuxnet file is encrypted and needs to be decrypted and that the driver must read and decrypt it and then allocate memory in the infected process equal the size of the file to copy the file in. But last week, the outgoing chief of israels mossad spy agency publicly asserted that iran wouldnt be capable of making a. But then it was almost a week before the next company. An unprecedented look at stuxnet, the worlds first. Stuxnet malware targets scada systems threat encyclopedia. Sep 30, 2010 stuxnet worm heralds new era of global cyberwar. Stuxnet, discovered by sergey ulasen, initially spread via microsoft windows, and targeted siemens industrial control systems. Israeli cooperation on stuxnet, but with israels role highlighted by the assertion that a file buried within the stuxnet worm contained. Aug, 2012 stuxnet and cyber deterrence stuxnet showed that a nationstate was capable and willing to use an advanced cyber weapon against an adversary. Oct 31, 2016 understanding stuxnet and other covert responses to the iranian nuclear program duration. Aug 15, 2017 stuxnet was one of the most advanced malware attacks in history. Nov 16, 2010 stuxnet, the worlds first known cyber missile, was designed to sabotage special power supplies used almost exclusively in nuclear fuelrefining centrifuge systems, researchers studying its. Stuxnet is typically introduced to the target environment via an infected usb flash drive.
As richard clarke outlined in his 2010 book, cyberwar, the u. Jan 29, 20 stuxnet and the dangers of cyberwar by vincent manzo operation olympic games, more commonly known as the stuxnet worm, damaged irans centrifuges and delayed its uranium enrichment efforts. Stuxnet could spread stealthily between computers running windowseven those not connected to the internet. What stuxnets exposure as an american weapon means for cyberwar. Cyberwar the meaning of stuxnet leaders the economist. Stuxnet, cyberwar, cyberwarfare, law of war, ihl, humanitarian law. Worm has ties to both bush and obama, as fears of a nuclear iran persist. Oct 20, 2011 in 2010, the stuxnet malware gained global notoriety as a weapon of cyberwar against iran. Tapping into the geopolitics of hacking and surveillance, ben makuch travels the world. When i started work at the international atomic energy agency. This virus, known as the most intelligent piece of software to date, is the beginning of a new era in cyber crimes. With the world believing that the united states is responsible, the nation now has the highest level of credibility for willingness and capability to develop and use a cyber weapon.
1529 38 837 377 277 635 519 311 853 146 502 127 101 1135 220 198 845 938 805 209 1249 1130 1476 145 538 658 1454 1403 527 566 1272 1036 954 1181