Stuxnet Infects 30,000 Industrial Computers In Iran

eldavojohn writes "The BBC and AFP are releasing more juicy details about the now infamous Stuxnet worm that Iranian officials have confirmed infected 30,000 industrial computers inside Iran following those exact fears. The targeted systems that the worm is designed to infect are Siemens SCADA systems. Talking heads are speculating that the worm is too complex for an individual or group, causing blame to be placed on Israel or even the United States — although the US official claims they do not know the origin of the virus. Iran claims it did not infect or place any risk to the new nuclear reactor in Bushehr, which experts are suspecting was the ultimate target of the worm."

Comments

and why would that be a problem, exactly?

[CAIMLAS]

So assume the US or Israel were at direct fault for this, ignoring the fallacy of "no single group" for a moment.

Why is that a problem, exactly?

We've got many, many quotes from the Iranian leaders (many of them) which are along the lines of:

* death to Israel
* we will hit Israel with a nuke
* we wish to see Israel as bright as the sun
* we can hit Europe with our ballistic missiles!
* America is our Enemy

This, all in light of their nuclear program having no explicable goal at this point aside from nuclear weaponry. A year or two ago, you could excuse it as being for 'peaceful means' but not any longer.

If someone says "I'm going to come over and beat the shit out of you sometime this week while you sleep" you act proactively, one way or another.

I would much rather the approach of calling the police and getting them put on house arrest than the approach of boarding up the guy's house and burning it down.

If people do conclude this was a US/Israel attack, they should take it as an indication to everyone watching that the US and Israel are not bloodthirsty. This is about as non-aggressive as you can get in terms of a physical attack, and the thought and planning involved is significantly more than simply launching an airstrike or missiles.