Re: A Way to Attack Nuclear Plants: Blame Esther

On Oct 3, 8:58 am, j...@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx wrote:



October 2, 2010
Iran Says It Arrested Computer Worm Suspects
By WILLIAM YONG

TEHRAN — Iran has arrested an unspecified number of “nuclear spies” in
connection with a damaging worm that has infected computers in its
nuclear program, the intelligence minister, Heydar Moslehi, said
Saturday.

Mr. Moslehi also told the semiofficial Mehr news agency that the
ministry had achieved “complete mastery” over government computer
systems and was able to counter any cyberattacks by “enemy spy
services.”

Iran confirmed last week that the Stuxnet worm, a malicious self-
replicating program that attacks computers that control industrial
plants, had infected computers in its nuclear operations. Officials
said it had been found in personal computers at the Bushehr nuclear
plant, a power generator that is not believed to be part of a weapons
program, and that it had not caused “serious damage” to government
systems.

While the origins of the worm remain obscure, many computer security
experts believe it was created by a government with the intent of
sabotaging Iran’s nuclear program, which Western countries believe is
aimed at creating a nuclear weapon. The United States and Israel have
cyberwarfare programs and both countries have sought to undermine
Iran’s nuclear enrichment program, but neither has commented on the
Stuxnet worm.

Iran has portrayed the worm as a cyberattack by Western powers and
Israel intended to derail the country’s nuclear program, which the
government says is for peaceful purposes.

“All of the destructive activities perpetrated by the oppressors in
cyberspace will be discovered quickly and means of combating these
plans will be implemented,” Mr. Moslehi said. “The intelligence
Ministry is aware of a range of activities being carried out against
the Islamic Republic by enemy spy services.”

He provided no further details on the arrests, which could not be
independently verified.

Hamid Alipour, an official at the state-run Iran Information
Technology company, has said that the worm is spreading. “This is not
a stable virus,” he said last week. “By the time we started to combat
it three new variants had been distributed.” He said his company hoped
to eliminate it within “one to two months.”

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/10/03/world/middleeast/03iran.html?_r=1&sq=Iran&st=cse&scp=2&pagewanted=print

and Esther


Iran arrests Stuxnet ‘spies’

October 2, 2010

(JTA) -- Iran announced arrests of people it linked to the Stuxnet
malware, which has affected its nuclear facilities.

Heydar Moslehi, the Iranian intelligence minister, did not say how
many people had been arrested.

Tehran-based media quoted him as saying Oct. 2 the attack was now
under control.

The program, which is capable of seizing control of industrial plants,
has infected at least 30,000 personal computers in Iran, including
some affecting the country's Bushehr nuclear plant, according to
Iranian reports.

Iranian officials have said the attack is the work of Israel and other
Western powers.

There are reports that the worm affected Natanz, a nuclear plant that
-- unlike Bushehr -- is believed to be part of Iran's suspected
nuclear weapons program.

Analysts have also uncovered hints within the worm that signal
associations with Esther, the Jewish queen of Persia who played a
pivotal role in preventing a Jewish genocide, according to the Book of
Esther, and with Iranian Jews who have been persecuted by the current
regime.

http://www.jta.org/news/article/2010/10/03/2741100/iran-arrests-stuxnet-spies
.

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