sabotage

A who's who of Mideast-targeted malware

What's up with all the malware aimed at the Middle East?

For the second time in two weeks a virus outbreak has been reported at an energy company in that region. Qatari liquified natural gas producer RasGas said its corporate network and Web site were down after getting hit by a virus on Monday. Earlier this week the Saudi Aramco oil company confirmed that its network was hit by a virus two weeks ago, shutting down 30,000 workstations. Neither company identified the virus, but in at least one of the cases it is believed to be malware known … Read more

Symantec: Stuxnet clues point to uranium enrichment target

Symantec researchers have figured out a key mystery to the Stuxnet worm code that strongly suggests it was designed to sabotage a uranium enrichment facility.

The program targets systems that have a frequency converter, which is a type of device that controls the speed of a motor, Eric Chien, technical director of Symantec Security Response, told CNET today. The malware looks for converters from either a company in Finland or Tehran, Iran.

"Stuxnet is watching these devices on the target system that is infected and checking what frequency these things are running at," looking for a range of … Read more

Expert: Stuxnet was built to sabotage Iran nuclear plant

An industrial control security researcher in Germany who has analyzed the Stuxnet computer worm is speculating that it may have been created to sabotage a nuclear plant in Iran.

The worm, which targeted computers running Siemens software used in industrial control systems, appeared in July and was later found to have code that could be used to control plant operations remotely. Stuxnet spreads by exploiting three holes in Windows, one of which has been patched.

The high number of infections in Iran and the fact that the opening of the Bushehr nuclear plant there has been delayed led Ralph Langner … Read more

Tainted products--sabotage or shoddy manufacturing?

Updated 10:30 p.m. PDT with comment from ESET.

SAN FRANCISCO--Computer equipment is arriving on stores shelves in the U.S. with viruses and other malicious software, but industry insiders said at the RSA conference on Tuesday that they don't know whether it's the result of intentional manipulation or just poor manufacturing processes overseas.

In 2007 and last year, digital photo frames sold around Christmas time were found to be infected with malware, and in previous years GPS devices, hard drives, laptops from Toshiba, iPods, and USB keys that accompany Hewlett-Packard servers were found to have similar … Read more

Plastic bag conquers Google Street View

Privacy advocates should take note of an effective way to avert the prying eyes of Google Street View: the lowly plastic bag.

A block of College Road in Fairbanks, Alaska, along with portions of Minnie St. and Third St. show what a driver would see only if wearing a plastic bag on his or her head. As Google Sightseeing observes, you can tell what it is by the fact that it says "plastic bag" on the inside.

So now perhaps we know which scheming multibillion dollar search engine is behind San Francisco's ban on plastic bags.

Buzz Out Loud 716: Hope for old people (like Tom)

There's still time for us to strike entrepreneurial gold, we talk "malicious circuits," and Microsoft blah blah blah blah. Also, Popcorn Hour starts shipping its magical streaming box of wonder and it looks like we're in store for some wiener whistles. Listen now: Download today's podcast EPISODE 716

Microsoft leans toward a hostile bid http://online.wsj.com/article/SB120966628366460063.html

Xbox 360 Blu-ray console shipping by September? http://www.engadget.com/2008/05/02/ xbox-360-blu-ray-console-by-september/

Researchers design “malicious circuits,” warn of potential risk http://www.engadget.com/2008/05/01/ researchers-design-malicious-circuits-warn-of-potential-risk/

Popcorn Hour’s … Read more