Clues emerge about genesis of Stuxnet worm Biblical and historica...

Clues emerge about genesis of Stuxnet worm

Biblical and historical references hint the Stuxnet worm may be of Israeli design. Debate continues to swirl about the origin and target of the Stuxnet computer worm

Researchers analyzing the Stuxnet cyberweapon have found references in its code that could indicate that it was created in Israel.

Although myrtus has several possible meanings – including being Latin for the plant myrtle – Mr. Langner noted that it may be an allusion to the Hebrew word for Esther. He pointed out that the Book of Esther features a plot by Persia against the Jews, who preemptively attacked in response.

“If you read the Bible you can make a guess,” said Mr. Langner, in a telephone interview from Germany on Wednesday.

Carol Newsom, an Old Testament scholar at Emory University, confirmed the linguistic connection between the plant family and the Old Testament figure, noting that Queen Esther’s original name in Hebrew was Hadassah, which is similar to the Hebrew word for myrtle. Perhaps, she said, “someone was making a learned cross-linguistic wordplay.”

http://www.csmonitor.com/World/terrorism-security/2010/1001/Clues-emerge-about-genesis-of-Stuxnet-worm

Stuxnet worm is the 'work of a national government agenc...

Stuxnet worm is the 'work of a national government agency'

Malware believed to be targeting Iran's Bushehr nuclear power plant may have been created by Israeli hackers

A computer worm which targets industrial and factory systems is almost certainly the work of a national government agency, security experts told the Guardian – but warn that it will be near-impossible to identify the culprit.

The "Stuxnet" computer worm, which has been described as one of the "most refined pieces of malware ever discovered", has been most active in Iran, says the security company Symantec – leading some experts to conjecture that the likely target of the virus is the controversialBushehr nuclear power plant, and that it was created by Israeli hackers.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/technology/2010/sep/24/stuxnet-worm-national-agency

Stuxnet worm mystery: What's the cyber weapon after?

Stuxnet worm attack has been centered on Iran, studies show. Experts offer dueling theories as to the cyber weapon's target: Iran's Bushehr nuclear power plant or the nuclear fuel centrifuge facility at Natanz?

Top industrial control systems experts have now gleaned enough about the Stuxnet worm to classify it as a cyber superweapon. But the mystery of what its target is – or was – remains unsolved, though guesswork about its mission is intensifying among those who have studied Stuxnet's complicated code.

Educated guesses about what Stuxnet, described as the world's first cyber guided missile, is programmed to destroy include the reactor for Iran's new Bushehr nuclear power plant, as well as Iran's nuclear fuel centrifuge plant in Natanz.

http://www.csmonitor.com/USA/2010/0924/Stuxnet-worm-mystery-What-s-the-cyber-weapon-after