Israel Matzav

Iran claims to have neutralized Duqu

Iran claims to have uncovered and neutralized the Duqu malware which was affecting its nuclear program. This is from the first link.

"The software to control the (Duqu) virus has been developed and made available to organizations and corporations" in Iran, head of civil defense Brigadier General Gholamreza Jalali told the official IRNA news agency.

"The elimination (process) was carried out and the organizations penetrated by the virus are under control ... The cyber defense unit works day and night to combat cyber attacks and spy (computer) virus," he added.

...

The virus takes advantage of a previously unknown vulnerability in a Windows font-parsing engine to plant malicious code in the heart of a computer system, according to Microsoft.

Similarities between Duqu and a malicious Stuxnet worm have prompted speculation that the same culprits might be involved, though no links have been proven.

Duqu is similar to Stuxnet but is designed to gather intelligence for future attacks on industrial control systems.

Stuxnet was designed to attack computer control systems made by German industrial giant Siemens and commonly used to manage water supplies, oil rigs, power plants and other critical infrastructure.

Most Stuxnet infections have been discovered in Iran, giving rise to speculation it was intended to sabotage nuclear facilities there. The worm was crafted to recognize the system it was designed to attack.

Did I tell you about the other worm in the Iranian nuclear plants? Heh.

Labels: computer worm, Duqu, Iranian nuclear program

posted by Carl in Jerusalem @ 2:43 PM