Thread: Stuxnet virus attack on Iranian nuclear programme: the first strike by computer?

Stuxnet virus attack on Iranian nuclear programme: the first strike by computer?

Posted on 05. Oct, 2010 by John Fife in Audio-Video, Foreign and Domestic Intelligence

On a Vancouver stage last Thursday, a young Irish computing expert gave a filmed presentation showing how the world could end with the pop of a balloon. The presentational qualities are, well, geek-like, the sound quality poor, and the whole experiment has the air of a Year 7 science project. Nevertheless, the YouTube video is spreading like wildfire from one software blog to the next.



In the past few days, the expert, Liam O Murchu, has become the new star of Geek Universe, quoted from PC World to the Washington Post. But unlike most such young men, his impenetrable analyses of computer coding have a frightening relevance to physical realities. Hence his experiment, performed at the Virus Bulletin 2010 conference in Canada.


O Murchu was demonstrating how a computer worm called Stuxnet had effects that went beyond blowing up your computer screen. It could blow up real things, too. Stuxnet has infected operating systems on equipment manufactured by the German industrial giant Siemens and has, as he puts it, “real-world implications beyond any threat we have seen in the past”. It could attack oil pipelines, power stations, even nuclear plants.
To prove the possibilities, O Murchu set up a basic air pump, controlled by a Siemens system, on the stage in front of him. The pump delivered a timed burst of air into a balloon, which inflated moderately. O Murchu then infected the system with Stuxnet, pressed a button, and hey presto! The pump pumped, but did not stop. The balloon went on inflating till it burst.
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I think it probably did do some damage. How much is the question.

Iran has denied that the Stuxnet virus has caused any delays in its nuclear power programme.

It issued the denials following speculation from a former

UN nuclear inspector that Stuxnet had managed to damage key equipment.

But Iran said it had caught Stuxnet before it managed to reach its intended target - controllers for centrifuges.

Reports suggest that Iran has taken thousands of centrifuges offline in recent months and its nuclear programme is known to have suffered significant delays.
Earlier this week, three senior diplomats from member countries of the UN's International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) confirmed that Iran had had to power down its centrifuges.

The revelations, reported by AP, raised further suspicion that Stuxnet had infected control systems in Iran's nuclear plants.

Olli Heinonen deputy director at the IAEA confirmed that Iran had experienced problems with centrifuges and said they could have been caused by technical problems or Stuxnet, but added that there was no proof that the worm was responsible.

BBC News - Iran denies Stuxnet disrupted its nuclear programme