Stuxnet Worm May Have Targeted Iranian Reactor

yuna49 writes "Analysis of the Stuxnet worm suggests its target might have been Iran's nuclear program. "Last week Ralph Langner, a well-respected expert on industrial systems security, published an analysis of the Stuxnet worm, which targets Siemens software systems, and suggested that it may have been used to sabotage Iran's Bushehr nuclear reactor. A Siemens expert, Langner simulated a Siemens industrial network and then analyzed the worm's attack. Experts had first thought that Stuxnet was written to steal industrial secrets, but Langner found something quite different. The worm actually looks for very specific Siemens settings — a kind of fingerprint that tells it that it has been installed on a very specific Programmable Logic Controller (PLC) device — and then it injects its own code into that system."

Comments

Some people don't care how many others they screw

[Anonymous Coward]

There's one non-secular country in the world that is famous for it's disregard for anyone but itself and its fundamentalist religious belief in their own specialness in the eyes of their own god, which they believe justifies their evil actions.

The truth is some evil people will do anything for wealth and power.

Re:So....the CIA wrote it?

[Wyatt Earp]

Nope, Israel.

The Saudis, UAE or Qatar have strong interests in Iran not going nuclear, but military computer science stuff is going to be Israel, Russia, China or the US, my money is on Israel in this one.

Re:So....the CIA wrote it?

[Anonymous Coward]

CIA?

Researchers studying the worm all agree that Stuxnet was built by a very sophisticated and capable attacker

doubtful.

Re:World War III

[ultramk]

Iran already blames Israel, for pretty much everything including why the crops fail. I mean, christ, they made the 100th anniversary of the original publishing of "the protocols of the elders of zion" (you know, the anti-semitic forged pamphlet) into a national holiday. It's not like things could get any worse.

The only reason that Iran doesn't attack Israel is because they know that Israel has nukes, and the will to use them with very little provocation. Even for those countries who would likely come down on Iran's side in any conflict, how many of them have any military to speak of? How many have nukes? Even one?

Really, it's in Israel's best interest that Iran starts hostilities and the sooner the better, before Iran gets nukes. In many ways it would actually stabilize the region to have Iran beat down somewhat--you know, at least from Israel's perspective.

Also, you should know by now that ulcers come from infection, not stress. Seriously, there was a Nobel Prize and everything.

Re:So....the CIA wrote it?

[Tailhook]

What does this say about reactor safety system design?

Nothing, because the entire scenario (adjust parameters...meltdown) is a fiction that exists exclusively inside your head.

The reactor is a Russian PWR that follows contemporary design principles and has parity with western reactors. The ECCS is not subject to the exclusive control of vulnerable PLCs. Safety systems aren't networked together in Ethernet broadcast domains waiting for stuxnet infections. Worst case; control rods can be inserted manually and feedwater/HPCI/LPCI pumps activated manually regardless of the state of any given PLC. The manual controls on these safety systems are deliberately simple for a reason.

Maybe a really clever attack designed to confuse operators into making the wrong decisions (see TMI-2 1979) could produce core damage. This still isn't some containment free RMBK graphite bomb reactor like Chernobyl. Contained PWR designs are more forgiving; they don't contaminate things even when they do melt down.