Friday, November 19, 2010

Stuxnet : Perfect for Sabotaging Centrifuges ...ooopsi !

NYT:
STUXNET Worm Was Perfect for Sabotaging Centrifuges
By WILLIAM J. BROAD and DAVID E. SANGER
Experts dissecting the computer worm suspected of being aimed at Iran's nuclear program have determined that it was precisely calibrated in a way that could send nuclear centrifuges wildly out of control.

Their conclusion, while not definitive, begins to clear some of the fog around the Stuxnet worm, a malicious program detected earlier this year on computers, primarily in Iran but also India, Indonesia and other countries.

The paternity of the worm is still in dispute in recent weeks officials from Israel have broken into wide smiles when asked whether Israel was behind the attack, or knew who was. American officials have suggested it originated abroad.

The new forensic work narrows the range of targets and deciphers the worm's plan of attack. Computer analysts say Stuxnet does its damage by making quick changes in the rotational speed of motors, shifting them rapidly up and down.

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Changing the speed "sabotages the normal operation of the industrial control process," Eric Chien, a researcher at the computer security company Symantec, wrote in a blog post.

Those fluctuations, nuclear analysts said in response to the report, are a recipe for disaster among the thousands of centrifuges spinning in Iran to enrich uranium, which can fuel reactors or bombs. Rapid changes can cause them to blow apart. Reports issued by international inspectors reveal that Iran has experienced many problems keeping its centrifuges running, with hundreds removed from active service since summer 2009.

"We don't see direct confirmation" that the attack was meant to slow Iran's nuclear work, David Albright, president of the Institute for Science and International Security, a private group in Washington that tracks nuclear proliferation, said in an interview Thursday. "But it sure is a plausible interpretation of the available facts."

Intelligence officials have said they believe that a series of covert programs are responsible for at least some of that decline. So when Iran reported earlier this year that it was battling the Stuxnet worm, many experts immediately suspected that it was a state-sponsored cyberattack.

Until last week, analysts had said only that Stuxnet was designed to infect certain kinds of Siemens equipment used in a wide variety of industrial sites around the world.

But a study released Friday by Mr. Chien, Nicolas Falliere and Liam O. Murchu at Symantec, concluded that the program's real target was to take over frequency converters, a type of power supply that changes its output frequency to control the speed of a motor.

The worm's code was found to attack converters made by two companies, Fararo Paya in Iran and Vacon in Finland. A separate study conducted by the Department of Homeland Security confirmed that finding, a senior government official said in an interview on Thursday.

Then, on Wednesday, Mr. Albright and a colleague, Andrea Stricker, released a report saying that when the worm ramped up the frequency of the electrical current supplying the centrifuges, they would spin faster and faster. The worm eventually makes the current hit 1,410 Hertz, or cycles per second -- just enough, they reported, to send the centrifuges flying apart.

In a spooky flourish, Mr. Albright said in the interview, the worm ends the attack with a command to restore the current to the perfect operating frequency for the centrifuges -- which, by that time, would presumably be destroyed.

"It's striking how close it is to the standard value," he said.

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2 comments:

Alexander Münch said...

Epa,

My neighbor's son is an hyperactive creature and to calm him down, his father bought him a set of drums ( A la Rolling Stone style... ) . Since then, our lives in the hood turned into a 24/7 nightmare !

An emergency meeting was arranged by the Residents of our street and ideas started to pop up how to stop this new plague. One said, kill the little Devil before he becomes big !... Another one said, let's all move to Canada!... Only Shtuckman ( a 20 years old nerd who is doing time in the 8200 hole ), was mumbling to himself, "I'm gona 'Stuck' his washing machine!" - "I'm gona 'Stuck' his washing machine!" but nobody paid attention to him.

One day, my neighbor came to me saying, "I have a big problem !", ( Yap, HE has a big problem !...). "Every time my washing machine comes to the spinning program, I hear strange noises like a Boeing 747 RR Engine! And the worst part is, when I take the laundry out, the shirts come with all their buttons missing the blue jeans with their zippers ripped off !... What can it be? Can you give a look ?". So, I gave a look.

The other day, Bella, the old lady from the first floor ( who knows everything about everything... ), told me:- " The little bugger died from electrocution !".

Shalom al Israel !

Epaminondas said...

Allow me to quote Confederate General Jubal Early, who on surveying the Union Army in 1864, was admonished by Lee for wishing them ill, ..

"General Lee, I wish they were all dead, AND IN HELL"