This marks a turning point in geopolitical conflicts, when the apocalyptic scenarios once only imagined in movies like Live Free or Die Hard have finally become plausible. Since the discovery of Stuxnet, Schouwenberg and other computer-security engineers have been fighting off other weaponized viruses, such as Duqu, Flame, and Gauss, an onslaught that shows no signs of abating. corporation to admit that Stuxnet had spread across its machines.Īlthough the authors of Stuxnet haven't been officially identified, the size and sophistication of the worm have led experts to believe that it could have been created only with the sponsorship of a nation-state, and although no one's owned up to it, leaks to the press from officials in the United States and Israel strongly suggest that those two countries did the deed. The next month, Chevron confirmed the speculation by becoming the first U.S. defense secretary Leon Panetta warned that the United States was vulnerable to a “cyber Pearl Harbor" that could derail trains, poison water supplies, and cripple power grids. Because someone could unsuspectingly infect a machine this way, letting the worm proliferate over local area networks, experts feared that the malware had perhaps gone wild across the world. If a worker stuck a USB thumb drive into an infected machine, Stuxnet could, well, worm its way onto it, then spread onto the next machine that read that USB drive. Stuxnet could spread stealthily between computers running Windows-even those not connected to the Internet. Although a computer virus relies on an unwitting victim to install it, a worm spreads on its own, often over a computer network. Recognition of such threats exploded in June 2010 with the discovery of Stuxnet, a 500-kilobyte computer worm that infected the software of at least 14 industrial sites in Iran, including a uranium-enrichment plant. headquarters in Woburn, Mass., battling the most insidious digital weapons ever, capable of crippling water supplies, power plants, banks, and the very infrastructure that once seemed invulnerable to attack. As a senior researcher for Kaspersky Lab, a leading computer security firm based in Moscow, Roel Schouwenberg spends his days (and many nights) here at the lab's U.S. This office might seem no different than any other geeky workplace, but in fact it's the front line of a war-a cyberwar, where most battles play out not in remote jungles or deserts but in suburban office parks like this one. A life-size Batman doll stands in the hall. Cryptic flowcharts are scrawled across various whiteboards adorning the walls. Learn more →Ĭomputer cables snake across the floor. Learn more → Join the world’s largest professional organization devoted to engineering and applied sciences and get access to all of Spectrum’s articles, archives, PDF downloads, and other benefits. Join the world’s largest professional organization devoted to engineering and applied sciences and get access to all of Spectrum’s articles, podcasts, and special reports. For more exclusive content and features, consider Joining IEEE. Enjoy more free content and benefits by creating an account Saving articles to read later requires an IEEE Spectrum account The Institute content is only available for members Downloading full PDF issues is exclusive for IEEE Members Access to Spectrum's Digital Edition is exclusive for IEEE Members Following topics is a feature exclusive for IEEE Members Adding your response to an article requires an IEEE Spectrum account Create an account to access more content and features on IEEE Spectrum, including the ability to save articles to read later, download Spectrum Collections, and participate in conversations with readers and editors. Stay ahead of the latest technology trends.
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