Thursday, June 21, 2012

Flame On!!!

                        It is being reported today that unnamed Western officials have confirmed that the Flame computer virus was developed by US and Israeli governments.  The Flame virus collected intelligence which aided in slowing Iran's nuclear program.   

            According to officials, the virus covertly monitored and mapped Iran's computer networks, and data was retrieved and steadily sent back to prepare for a cyberwarfare campaign.  Included in the effort to develop and deploy the software was the National Security Agency (NSA), the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA), and Israel's military.  The efforts also included destructive software such as the Stuxnet virus which caused malfunctions in Iran's Nuclear-enrichment facilities.

            According to one former high-ranking U.S. intelligence official: "This is about preparing the battlefield for another type of covert action [...] Cyber-collection against the Iranian program is way further down the road than this."  The official also indicated that Flame and Stuxnet were elements of a larger assault that continues even today.

            Eugene Kaspersky, whose security lab recently discovered the Flame virus that had been used against Iran says that there should be an immediate global effort designed to stop what he calls cyber terrorism.  "It's not cyber war, it's cyber terrorism and I'm afraid it's just the beginning of the game [...] I'm afraid it will be the end of the world as we know it [...] I'm scared, believe me."

            Roel Schuwenberg, a senior researcher at Kaspersky Lab said: "We are now 100 percent sure that the Flame and Stuxnet groups worked together [...] The fact that the Flame group shared their source code with the Stuxnet group shows they cooperated at least once."

            Cyber security experts say that Flame is one of the most sophisticated malware codes that has ever been discovered, and believe that it was released to specifically infect computer systems in Iran and in rival regimes across the Middle East.

            It seems as though news of cyber warfare, cyber attacks, cyber terrorism is on the rise.  These are interesting times to be part of information security.  I don't foresee a slowdown in the development of more advanced cyber attack methods, programs, or code, if I had to guess, the cyber battle space will continue to grow and will be the new frontier for a new kind of war.  It's going to be an interesting few years to be sure!   


References:

Heyes, J.D. (2012).  Flame malware, creted by US government, could wreck critical infrastructure.  Retrieved 21 June, 2012, from: http://www.infowars.com/flame-malware-created-by-us-government-could-wreck-critical-infrastructure/

Rey, F.  (2012).  US and Israel developed flame maware to cripple Iranian nuclear power program.  Retrieved 21 June, 2012, from: http://socialbarrel.com/flame-malware-nuclear-power-program/39261/

THN Security Analyst (2012).  US and Israel developed flame malware against Iran.  Retrieved 21 June, 2012, from: http://thehackernews.com/2012/06/us-and-israel-developed-flame-malware.html

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