Taking the War to the Interwebs.. Almost

The idea that battlefields would be taking place over the internet has been bounced around for quite some time. And no, not only the video game wars.
We're talking about viruses.

Iran has always been known to contract the most computer viruses on the entire planet. This past week Iran's nuclear power plant was attacked by one of the meanest viruses constructed to date. The Stuxnet worm, the virus at hand, is unlike anything ever seen before. 0day exploits are very, very, valuable to people that create viruses and this particular virus has a total of four of them, which is absolutely insane. These exploits got their name because hackers find, well, exploits in software before they are released and spread them among their comrades. They are sold for, on average, about $5,000 with the most expensive one going for $250,000. Yeah, they are that important because the exploits are almost impossible to find before it is too late. When the software is released with these holes, users are easily attacked. It is then a fight between the hackers and the creators of the software. The exploits are found on the zeroth, or first, day, which is how these exploits got their name. Having one of these 0day contained viruses would make anyone's life a living hell, but four? That would cause absolute and total chaos and irreparable, and it is a major risk to have so much punch in one piece of code.

It is believed that a "'nation state'" created this virus and aimed it particularly at Iran's nuclear power plant. Because of the payload that this malware contained, only a nation could have funded the work that went into this code. And the fact that this same code was filled with four 0day exploits meant that they were going for a kill shot; to cause crippling amounts of damage, despite the risk that was involved stuffing so much power in one attack.

Iranian President touring the facility in 2008.

But what REALLY makes this virus nasty is that it could have actually affected machines in this nuclear power plant that could have caused unbelievable damage. The code could have reprogrammed programmable logic control software that "'turn on and off motors, monitor temperature, turn coolers if a gauge goes over a certain temperature'", things that are OUTSIDE of a computer system. And I do believe that those are at least a tiny bit important in a nuclear facility. This makes this Stuxnet worm absoltely remarkable and a first of its kind.

The fact that this piece of code, this malware, was constructed to cause damage to the real world just shows that wars are starting to turn to the internet for the front lines.


SOURCES:

Fildes, J. (2010). Stuxnet Worm 'Targeted High-Value Iranian Assets'. Retrieved from http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-11388018.

Murchu, L. (2010). Stuxnet Using Three Additional Zero-Day Vulnerabilities. Retrieved from http://www.symantec.com/connect/blogs/stuxnet-using-three-additional-zero-day-vulnerabilities.

Reals, T. (2010). Stuxnet Worm a U.S. Cyber-Attack on Iran Nukes?. Retrieved from http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-501465_162-20017507-501465.html.