Newly discovered malware most lethal cyberweapon to date

[Catty1]

http://www.cbc.ca/news/technology/story/2012/05/28/tech-malware-flame-cyberattack.html

From CBC News:
A new kind of malware that is more sophisticated and damaging than the notorious Stuxnet and Duqu worms is likely being deployed by a nation state, say the cybersecurity firms that uncovered it.

[Karen]

If you read the actual story, it's not something we in North America have to worry about yet, as the attacks have been limited to counties in the Middle East:


Kaspersky has so far identified seven countries that have been affected by Flame attacks:

Iran (189 targets)
Israel and Palestine (98 targets)
Sudan (32 targets)
Syria (30 targets)
Lebanon (18 targets)
Saudi Arabia (10 targets)
Egypt (5 targets)

[Catty1]

I know, Karen - but "yet" is the operative word, that's all.

[Miss Z]

I read about this a few days ago. Scary stuff.

What I find so fascinating is the idea of 'cyber warfare'. The idea that terrorists, if they were able to develop a super-virus, could hack into systems that could cause power-plants to explode, trains to derail, etc, is both mind-blowing and mind-numbing.

[Lady's Human]

I read about this a few days ago. Scary stuff.

What I find so fascinating is the idea of 'cyber warfare'. The idea that terrorists, if they were able to develop a super-virus, could hack into systems that could cause power-plants to explode, trains to derail, etc, is both mind-blowing and mind-numbing.


Train derailing, while unlikely, would be possible.

Power plants exploding? There are too many manual overrides in the control loops to have a powerplant boiler explode.

As to the description of the program as a "lethal" threat, I don't think it's going to kill anyone through a data tap, which, essentially, is what it is.

[Freedom]

As a subscriber to Norton security, I was pleasantly surprised to find an email from them when I logged on this morning, informing me that I am protected from Flamer. Wow!