stuxnet

Cybersecurity professionals -- especially in Iran -- woke up today to the latest twist in the history of cyberwarfare when researchers at Symantec said they discovered a version of the Stuxnet computer virus which predates by two years the cyber weapon that was used to sabotage Iran's main nuclear enrichment facilities.

The U.S. and Israel are widely believed to be behind Stuxnet, though neither country has claimed authorship publicly. (The New York Times reported that President George W. Bush initiated the attacks, a program which has continued in the Obama administration.) Stuxnet first came to public light for … Read more

Learning a lesson from the Stuxnet attack, Iran has beefed up its cyber forces and poses a greater threat to the United States.

At least, that was the word of warning from U.S. Air Force General William Shelton yesterday, according to Reuters. Speaking with reporters, Shelton said that the Iranian government has increased its cyber efforts since and as a result of being hit by Stuxnet.

In 2010, the infamous computer worm was unleashed in Iran and other countries. Designed to seize control of power grids and other industrial control systems, Stuxnet infected computers at Iran's Natanz nuclear … Read more

Several U.S. banks were hit with online attacks over the past few months, but it's been unclear who was responsible. Now, government officials and security researchers are saying Iran was waging these cyberattacks, according to a report by the New York Times.

"There is no doubt within the U.S. government that Iran is behind these attacks," James A. Lewis, a former official in the State and Commerce departments and a computer security expert at the Center for Strategic and International Studies in Washington, told the Times.

The attacks were aimed at several major banks, including … Read more

Android and iOS devices were apparently popular gifts this Christmas -- more popular than ever before.

Device activations soared from their daily December average of 4 million to 17.4 million on Christmas Day, a 332 percent increase, according to analytics firm Flurry. That's more than double the 6.8 million devices activated on Christmas last year, the previous single-day record holder. And in a first, more tablets were activated on Christmas this year than phones. Apple tablets dominated the category, but the Kindle Fire HD 7-inch made its strongest showing ever.

iPhone and iPad app downloads jumped 87 percent … Read more

An Iranian news agency says the country successfully fended off yet another attack by the Stuxnet worm, according to reports.

The cyberattack allegedly targeted a power plant and other sites in southern Iran over the fall, the BBC and the Associated Press reported today.

Discovered in June 2010, Stuxnet is believed to be the first malware targeted specifically at critical infrastructure systems. It's thought to have been designed to shut down centrifuges at Iran's Natanz uranium enrichment plant, where stoppages and other problems reportedly occurred around that time. The sophisticated worm spreads via USB drives and through four … Read more

Stuxnet, the sophisticated computer virus that attacked a nuclear enrichment facility in Iran two years ago, also inadvertently infected Chevron's network.

Reportedly created by the U.S. and Israel, the highly destructive worm was designed to infect Iran's Natanz nuclear facility. Rather than steal data, Stuxnet left a back door meant to be accessed remotely to allow outsiders to stealthily knock the facility offline and at least temporarily cripple Iran's nuclear program.

The oil giant discovered the malware in July 2010 after the virus escaped from its intended target, Mark Koelmel, Chevron's general manager of the … Read more

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

Two U.S. senators are calling for a federal investigation of the power grid's potential cybersecurity vulnerabilities after a CNET article last month raised security concerns.

The request for a probe comes from Sens. Joseph Lieberman (I-CT), the chairman of the Senate Homeland Security Committee, and Susan Collins (R-ME), the panel's senior Republican, who warned that lapses "could undermine part of the security system protecting our grid."

They sent a letter yesterday to the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission asking for an "expeditious comprehensive investigation into these allegations," which deal with digital signatures the industry … Read more

USB drives are convenient for storage and for transferring data to other computers. This convenience also makes them a great delivery system for malware. If you're comfortable with the Windows Registry or know how to set Group Policies, you can lock down your PC's USB drives. A much simpler way is by using USB Disk Manager.

USB Disk Manager is a small Windows program that can help you manage the permissions of USB drives. The portable app doesn't need to be installed and can be run from a folder on your hard drive or from a USB … Read more