Who in this digital age hasn’t heard of computer viruses? They seem to get into computers all the time. They slow down the system, disrupt our privacy and sometimes nastily delete our files. They get categorized into creepy names like worms and malware; and get called infections. Why, then, is there such a big fuss about something called Stuxnet? The answer is that the media and security organizations around the world are fussing over the Stuxnet worm because they believe that the Stuxnet worm may have commenced a new era of cyber warfare.
So, what exactly is Stuxnet? Stuxnet is an entirely new kind of malicious program. Unlike other viruses and worms that attacks our PCs and even web servers, it targets industrial infrastructure instead. The media and security companies such as Symantec are worried because as a result of such malicious code, an attacker could control machinery such as pumps, motors, alarms to cause havoc in factories. Even worse, safety systems at nuclear stations could be switched off, the consequences of which would be doubtlessly disastrous.
Up until now, in the pre-Stuxnet era, industrial computers were considered relatively safer because they are controlled by computers which are different from the computers we use. They use dedicated systems called programmable logic controllers, which have been crucial to the economy as they have heavily automated industries.
To get a worm into an industrial system is not easy because the firms which manufacture PLCs have their own programming languages, which are made tricky for hackers to crack it. However, there now seems to have been a way for worms to get into PLCs through a Windows system. Stuxnet exploited four vulnerabilities in the Microsoft Windows to inject malicious code into the system.
The Stuxnet infection’s first appearance is known to be in a USB memory stick in Iran. It has also been speculated that nuclear facilities in Iran may have been attacked by Stuxnet.
The Stuxnet worm is believed to be written very professionally. This new worm could be the first of what is to be a new generation of cyber weaponry, commencing a new chapter in modern warfare; and thus becoming the greatest social menace of our times.
Further reading-
- http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stuxnet
- http://www.computerworld.com/s/article/print/9185419/Siemens_Stuxnet_worm_hit_industrial_systems?taxonomyName=Network+Security&taxonomyId=142
- http://www.kaspersky.com/news?id=207576183
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