Novel computer virus hit Iran's oil sector
Source: Agencies |
May 31, 2012, Thursday
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Print Edition
Print Edition
IRAN'S key oil industry was briefly affected by the powerful computer virus known as "Flame" that has unprecedented data-snatching capabilities and can eavesdrop on computer users, a senior Iranian military official said yesterday.
The comment is the first direct link between the emergence of the new malware and an attack inside a highly sensitive computer system in Iran, which counts on oil revenue for 80 percent of its income. The full extent of last month's disruptions has not been given, but Iran was forced to cut Internet links to the country's main oil-export terminal, presumably to try to contain the virus.
It would be the latest high-profile virus to penetrate Iran's computer defenses in the past two years, boosting speculation that Israeli programmers could have struck again. Experts see technological links between Flame and the highly focused Stuxnet virus, which was tailored to disrupt Iran's nuclear centrifuges in 2010. Many suspect Stuxnet was the work of Israeli intelligence.
Israel's vice premier did little to deflect suspicion about the country's possible involvement in the cyberattack.
"Whoever sees the Iranian threat as a significant threat is likely to take various steps, including these, to hobble it," Moshe Yaalon told Army Radio when asked about Flame on Tuesday. "Israel is blessed with high technology, and we boast tools that open all sorts of opportunities for us."
The virus can activate a computer's audio systems to listen in on Skype calls or office chatter. It can also take screenshots, log keystrokes and - in a novel function - steal data from Bluetooth-enabled cellphones.
The comment is the first direct link between the emergence of the new malware and an attack inside a highly sensitive computer system in Iran, which counts on oil revenue for 80 percent of its income. The full extent of last month's disruptions has not been given, but Iran was forced to cut Internet links to the country's main oil-export terminal, presumably to try to contain the virus.
It would be the latest high-profile virus to penetrate Iran's computer defenses in the past two years, boosting speculation that Israeli programmers could have struck again. Experts see technological links between Flame and the highly focused Stuxnet virus, which was tailored to disrupt Iran's nuclear centrifuges in 2010. Many suspect Stuxnet was the work of Israeli intelligence.
Israel's vice premier did little to deflect suspicion about the country's possible involvement in the cyberattack.
"Whoever sees the Iranian threat as a significant threat is likely to take various steps, including these, to hobble it," Moshe Yaalon told Army Radio when asked about Flame on Tuesday. "Israel is blessed with high technology, and we boast tools that open all sorts of opportunities for us."
The virus can activate a computer's audio systems to listen in on Skype calls or office chatter. It can also take screenshots, log keystrokes and - in a novel function - steal data from Bluetooth-enabled cellphones.
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