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Flame: The Massive Stuxnet-Level Malware Sweeping the Middle East
An anonymous reader writes "Wired is reporting on a massive, highly sophisticated piece of malware has been newly found infecting systems in Iran and elsewhere and is believed to be part of a well-coordinated, ongoing, state-run cyberespionage operation. Kaspersky Lab, the company that discovered the malware, has a FAQ with more details."
What about keeping the general population informed about what the world is up to? You know, so that the electorate can make electoral decisions based on actual information rather than fear-mongering? Or is this just an outdated concept, and we should let our politicians just tell us what we should worry about?
Those who can, do. Those who can't, sue.
Why should they care about 'national intelligence' as it pertains to other countries? They have no duty to protect whoever created this. Hell, until they've done the analysis, they don't even know who the hell it is.
If you have code out there that's an attack vector, it's a vulnerability for everyone. If someone repurposed the attack, it's something which can be exploited.
Do you think people should have laid low on the topic of the Sony rootkit on CDs because, clearly they were justified?
I don't buy your argument -- security researchers are looking for vulnerabilities we could all be subject to.
National intelligence be damned ... how the hell are you supposed to know what is being targeted and by whom? Did China write this? The US? Russia? Tuvalu?
That's like saying people should stop worrying if the police are breaking laws because they're doing it for our own good. Then ends don't always justify the means.
Lost at C:>. Found at C.
Should the details of the latest stealth aircraft technology be publicly disclosed so voters can make informed decisions? The latest in radar-absorbing paint, if it exists in a usable form? Nuclear weapon design details (the important details, not the general info that's already public)? Every detail of the President's personal security? Come on. Some things are relevant enough to the political process that voters must be informed. Other things are not, and secrecy is critically important for some of them.
I am a geek attorney, but not your geek attorney unless you've already retained me. This is not legal advice.
Kaspersky discovered the malware about two weeks ago after the United Nations' International Telecommunications Union asked the Lab to look into reports in April that computers belonging to the Iranian Oil Ministry and the Iranian National Oil Company had been hit with malware that was stealing and deleting information from the systems.
Why do you jump to the conclusion that if it is targeting Iran it must be a good thing? Do you ever question what you see in the media? What if it was written by programmers hired by wall streeters that were trying to gain an upper hand on the oil market, thereby basically stealing money from the Iranians and from you? Still a good thing? This is probably not the case, but that's just it: until we find out all of the details we need to keep our minds open and quizzical, and question who is feeding us what bullshit and why.
Propaganda is getting more and more sophisticated; it is coming at you from all directions. I'm not saying be paranoid, just to realize that most media that gets presented to you has a purpose. Once in a while see if you can divine that purpose.
Try some critical thinking.
Look where all this talking got us, baby.
Liberty is less threatened by foreign evildoers than by domestic injustice. Laws that stack the deck, and laws that are selectively enforced, are what any lovers of freedom should fear.
It's not secret technology that protects us. Freedom's only hope is a people that won't take crap from their government.
I think armed revolution would be a stupid and counterproductive idea. But bloodless or bloody, technical tactical details of the hardware we've bought with our own money could be handy to know.
Of course it's not as simple as I portray it, but progress and freedom depend on transparency, warfare and tyranny depend on secrecy. When so much is secret, even our laws, we must ask ourselves if our priorities are straight.
In the case of Stuxnet, your average hacker doesn't have access to nuclear centrifuge controllers to develop and debug on. For code that is as finely tuned as it was, you need a development lab that includes the target systems or at least true simulations thereof.
For something like Flame, with it being as targeted as it is, you'd expect something similar.
Learning HOW to think is more important than learning WHAT to think.