Stuxnet for Dummies
Paul A. Rahe ·
Nov 27, 2010 at 8:10am
Ricochet readers with an interest in intrigue and derring-do might find interesting a piece posted by Fox News yesterday, which describes in detail for laymen what we now know about Stuxnet, the damage it did to the Iranian nuclear program, and its likely origins. We are now in a new world of cyberwarfare, and I doubt that we will ever get out.
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Jun '10
Re: Stuxnet for Dummies
More and more, it's the side with the greater understanding and creativity that wins the wars. Numbers and perseverance, by themselves, are not enough. The other side's greatest weakness exists precisely because it's not obvious--not even to them.
Aug '10
Re: Stuxnet for Dummies
Well, when the first casualty occurs will be the real threshold into another world.
The drones are killing people but that's just a fancy bullet with strings. Turning man's machines against him looks like an interesting gambit.
Masterful stroke by the creators. Necessity is the mother of invention.
In this case, the lack of support of the world's players. A pariah image foisted upon them by bloody despots everywhere. And operating in the crucible of the next wave of global uncertainty due to religion or lack of it.
Stuxnet rocks ! I hope we got to contribute.
Feb '10
Re: Stuxnet for Dummies
Just as an anecdote to confirm your statement that we are now in the era of cyberwarfare.
Earlier this year, we hired a part-time consultant from Estonia to help us with our website here at Ricochet. He worked for us for a few months, then quit to go back to school for his master's degree. His major? Cyberwar defense.
Edited on Nov 27, 2010 at 2:41pmOct '10
Re: Stuxnet for Dummies
I would have loved to have been a fly on the wall when the Iranians started to notice everything going wrong, but their instrument panels all showing normal.
I wonder if you could make a movie where the hero is a computer worm - they really have characteristics and behaviours, and even spawn offspring.
May '10
Re: Stuxnet for Dummies
One of the things I will always remember about September 11th is that it was less than 24 hours after our yearly security clearance briefing by the FBI in which the number 1 security threat named was cyberwarfare. Now we have to worry about cyberwarfare by terrorists.
May '10
Re: Stuxnet for Dummies
Now that this move is in the open, the Chinese will have 100,000 hackers working on version 2.0.
Re: Stuxnet for Dummies
Yes, indeed. We are in a new world.
Jul '10
Re: Stuxnet for Dummies
The Chinese already have more than 100,000 hackers working full-time on a broad range of tactics. The game has been afoot for many, many years now.
May '10
Re: Stuxnet for Dummies
Paul A. Rahe
Yes, indeed. We are in a new world. · Nov 28 at 5:58am
I suggest everyone read Startup Nation about Israel's economic development. Put that book together with this story and there can be no doubt that Israel and the U.S. are indispensable allies.
May '10
Re: Stuxnet for Dummies
But the amazing part of this story is not in the Fox piece, and it involved some good old fashion cloak and dagger:
The Siemens equipment connect to and control voltage regulators that, downstream, vary input to the electric motor that turns the centrifuge. The regulators are made by two companies: one in Finland, the other in Iran. This iteration of Stuxnet was designed to look for regulators within a very narrow range of serial numbers, and then only effect anomalous operation of the Siemens controllers upstream.
So who, and how, did someone put eyes on those serial numbers?
A regular dirt bag h4x0r would have not cared a wit about this narrow definition of equipment, which means the same hardware setup in the physics department at the University of Mouthwash won't have their gear go sour if this iteration of Stuxnet gets out in the wild.
May '10
Re: Stuxnet for Dummies
This thread may have run its course, but check out Emily's post this morning. It includes a link to an article describing attacks on the two Iranian scientists responsible for undoing Stuxnet's damage.