Regin Malware In EU Attack Linked To US and British Intelligence Agencies

Advocatus Diaboli writes The Regin malware, whose existence was first reported by the security firm Symantec on Sunday, is among the most sophisticated ever discovered by researchers. Symantec compared Regin to Stuxnet, a state-sponsored malware program developed by the U.S. and Israel to sabotage computers at an Iranian nuclear facility. Sources familiar with internal investigations at Belgacom and the European Union have confirmed to The Intercept that the Regin malware was found on their systems after they were compromised, linking the spy tool to the secret GCHQ and NSA operations.

Comments

How will I explain this to my children

[Trachman]

On NSA website, NSA states about their values: " We will protect national security interests by adhering to the highest standards of behavior".

So how NSA would be able to explain to a child that computer virus and malware represent the highest standard of behavior.

It is probably the same as stealing money on the street from slightly overweight person and telling him/her, that you need to lose weight anyway and that the robber cares about you. If questioned, street robber will counter stating that the victim should be thankful, because in other streets (countries) you could be shot for even questioning.

Is vulnerable and weakened by NSA encryption is also "highest standard of behavior", dear beavers from NSA?

Advanced malware controlling industrial systems

[Kevin Fishburne]

This thought began as a joke, but this actually does sound how something like Skynet could be born. Malware is infamous for aggressively trying to preserve itself. We all joke about how stupid the idea of programming an AI with a strong sense of self-preservation is because of the obvious dangers, but that is exactly how malware is programmed. Programming it to control industrial systems as well (giving it a "body") seems like a really bad idea, particularly if the aim is not to sabotage the infected industrial system, but to cause as much damage to the target nation as possible (a reasonable wartime goal).