So for those of you not in the loop, Stuxnet is a super virus, the first of it's kind cyber weapon. Found in industrial control systems of such things as nuclear power plants, air traffic control systems and many other key structures. What makes this virus so interesting is a few key facts that separate it from your run of the mill virus. It was made with a real security clearance, it's 20 times more complex then any known virus at the time, it has an array of capabilities, such as causing a nuclear plant to go into melt down all the while telling the operators everything was fine and it comes with a self-destruct feature among many other safeguards. It exploits multiple security gaps that the software creators are unaware of, often called zero-days, or 0-days. The virus originally targeted Siemens software by targeting Microsoft operating systems and networks then seeking out the Siemens Step7 software. There are 3 parts of Stuxnet, a worm that executes all routines related to the attack, a link file that automatically propagates copies of the worm, and a rootkit which hides all the malicious files and processes. Thence Stuxnet was first found, several similar programs have been discovered, such as Duqu, and Flame.
While no definitive person or group has been found guilty of creating Stuxnet many people believe it was a joint venture by Israel and the United States. It is believed to be the largest and costliest development effort in malware history, due to the team of programmers it needed to develop all the capabilities and the in-depth knowledge of the industrial processes. Documents from WikiLeaks and testimony from anonymous U.S. officials leave little doubt that both parties were involved.
To make the world a better place Stuxnet is open source and free online for anyone to play with. Feel free to full fill your dreams of world domination by clicking here.
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