Israel Matzav

'Stuxnet was out of control. We had to reveal it'

How many large-scale cyberattacks have taken place to this day?

“You can count them on one hand, but the pace of attacks is growing. Today there are various kinds of cyberattacks, and criminal organizations are entering this field and offering their services to governments and commercial companies. They have their own forums, their own social networks, and they run their own parallel world. Unfortunately, many countries suffer from these cyberwars.”

You are supposed to help the good guys stop the bad guys. If so, why did you reveal the Stuxnet [The Stuxnet computer worm of 2010, which destroyed several Iranian nuclear centrifuges, was revealed as a joint U.S.-Israeli cyberweapon aimed at specific Iranian nuclear facilities]?

“That virus spun out of control. Although it was intended to stop the progress of Iran’s nuclear program, it also damaged 100,000 computers all over Europe. There was a need to stop it. Cyberwars act like boomerangs. In the real world, when you launch a missile, it hones in on a target and then it is completely destroyed. A virtual missile, however, is not destroyed. The attacking side could intercept it, change a few lines of code, and send it back to whoever launched it in the first place. So it would be advisable for governments not to enter cyberwars because in a boomerang war there are no winners.”

The Stuxnet worm, which allegedly attacked the Natanz plant by altering the frequency at which motors connected to gas centrifuges that separate uranium isotopes turn, formed part of a wave of digital attacks on the country in 2009 and 2010.

Labels: computer worm, Iranian nuclear threat, Stuxnet

posted by Carl in Jerusalem @ 6:24 PM