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F-Secure Report: Another SCADA Attack in Iran — This Time With AC/DC
An anonymous reader writes "F-Secure antivirus company of Finland has reported receiving e-mails from an Iranian nuclear scientist, who says Persian uranium-235 isotope refining efforts have just been hit with yet another cyber strike. (Stuxnet, Duqu and Flamer-Skywiper being the previous iterations of the same Operation Project Olympic attack plan.) Last month, President Obama's staff has admitted to the New York Times that there is a joint Israel-U.S. cybermilitary operation was behind the mishaps Iranians have recently been suffering with their UF6 gas refining centrifuge systems in the Natanz and Fordo plants. This time, the unverified e-mail claims, a new Metasploit-based malware owns Iranian VPNs, causes fault in the nuclear plants' Siemens-based industrial control systems, and randomly starts to play AC/DC's 'Thunderstruck' aloud via the infected computers' speakers."
Rock and revolt!
Sound of the drums
Beatin' in my heart
The thunder of guns
Tore me apart
You've been - thunderstruck
I would have gone for "Born in the USA"
Please do not read this sig. Thank you.
This somehow seems like a disinformation campaign by the iranians. With the refinement Flame/Stuxnet had, it seems a bit too amateurish that all of a sudden the attack methods would become so much more primitive and obvious to the victims (I mean, seriously, playing loud music in the middle of the night?)
What other songs could the virus rock out with?
"Stranglehold"
"Eve Of Destruction"
"Dogs Of War"
"Born In The USA"
Pretty much anything off Dark Side Of The Moon
I hope the malware writers (or the US gov't) have agreed their license fees with the respective record companies, otherwise they'll find themselves in a world of pain!
I'd still go for Wagner
Yeah, so suddenly the guys who did a lot of work to be undetected will use Metasploit code and disclose their owning of the computers with an AC/DC song ....
Methinks someone is not reaching his objectives and found a good scapegoat as an excuse...
The alternative of course would be that script kiddies are owning Iran's nuclear researchs lab infrastructure ...
http://www.transparency.org
I have a few bones to pick with the summary, of a factual nature. Corrections are in bold, I have not corrected the grammatical errors.
"F-Secure antivirus company of Finland has reported receiving e-mails from an Iranian nuclear scientist, who says Persian uranium-235 isotope refining efforts have just been hit with yet another cyber strike. (Stuxnet, Duqu and Flamer-Skywiper allegedly being the previous iterations of the same Operation Project Olympic attack plan.) Last month, an anonymous member of President Obama's staff has allegedly admitted to the New York Times that there is a joint Israel-U.S. cybermilitary operation was behind the mishaps Iranians have recently been suffering with their UF6 gas refining centrifuge systems in the Natanz and Fordo plants. This time, the unverified e-mail claims, a new Metasploit-based malware owns iranian VPNs, causes fault in the nuclear plants' Siemens-based industrial control systems, and randomly starts to play AC/DC's 'Thunderstruck' aloud via the infected computers' speakers."
I'm not saying the Times is wrong, but I don't trust their source completely. I also am not claiming he's wrong, but the press has a very bad habit of really fucking up critical details of technology-related stories. For example, I find it pretty hard to swallow that such an operation would only involve the US and Israel. It's all very convenient, and tidy, and in real life the real story is very rarely wrapped up in such a pretty little package. We certainly need at least an independent confirmation of the source's information.
They are seriously dancing around if this is an act of war. If Iran started hitting the US I suspect these actions would have a different spin. Of course the US is a super power so war with them is on a completely different level than the smaller countries.
It's been opened.
The US will not encounter foreign boots on the ground but cyber retaliation... and I promise it could get very ugly. As a former Network Admin, Accelerator Designer, and now Siemens Programmer I can tell you that these viruses can be turned back on us. Much of the world runs on Siemens programming. Oil rigs, chemical mixers, MRI scanners, food prep, power grids, water treatment, and manufacturing assembly of all kinds (right off the top of my head) all run on Siemens hardware/software and we don't have the ability to defend against it.
However, I am not worried about Iran. It's China who already has their digital boots on the ground.
Will the RIAA be sending the Iranian government a cease and desist notice for violating its copyright on the song?
It sounds like Tony Stark may have had a hand in this one.
What happens when Tony Stark/Iron man becomes infected by a virus?
A feeling of having made the same mistake before: Deja Foobar
Federal agents must be going through iranian IP addresses of the Cryptography course on Coursera.
> President Obama's staff has admitted to the New York Times that there is a joint Israel-U.S. cybermilitary operation was behind the mishaps Iranians have recently been suffering with their UF6 gas refining centrifuge systems in the Natanz and Fordo plants.
Remind me, when and where exactly did Obama's staff admit this? Is there anything at all besides one article with unsourced allegations?
No doubt the U.S. is behind behind this. But I'm getting damned tired of the shoddy journalism. I've seen so many claims that "the President has confirmed that the U.S. is behind the cyber attacks on Iraq nuclear facilities" with absolutely nothing to back them up. C'mon folks, stick to the facts.
Too many women with too many pills?
I think the parent comment meant the result, not the cause...
Do not look into laser with remaining eye.
Indeed. I wonder how long until the RIAA and Co. will take until they send their regards for each computer playing to a group of people without licensing rights.
Actually, playing the music, and calling attention to the exploit is a sign of kiddies at play, and nothing to do
with any professional or state backed efforts. Why would you reveal your exploit?
Its possible this is a diversionary tactic to hide something serious going on at different workstations. But I doubt it.
It could also be an inside prank, because unless you are there to see the panic ensue, why play music. But I doubt that as well.
The story is just as likely to be totally bogus: Unverified email form a nuclear scientist, Really!?, Like these guys get to send mail unguarded, un-scanned, un-censored?
Sig Battery depleted. Reverting to safe mode.