Cyber-espionage worm, said to have 20 times as much code as Stuxnet, found across the Middle East, page 1


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ATS Members have flagged this thread 23 times
Topic started on 28-5-2012 @ 01:08 PM by Daedal
A new, unprecedented computer virus called “Flame” (or “sKyWIper”) has hit Iran, the West Bank, and other Middle Eastern locations. It is already considered one of the most sophisticated cyber weapons ever unleashed. Internet security company Kaspersky said Monday that Flame was the “most complex piece of malicious software discovered to date.”

timesofisrael.com
The cyber-espionage worm, designed to collect and delete sensitive information, is said to have 20 times as much code as Stuxnet, which attacked an Iranian uranium enrichment facility (and some 16,000 computers), causing centrifuges to fail. Iran blamed Israel and the US for its creation.

Flame is also believed to contain an element that was used in Stuxnet. Kaspersky said the Flame malware may have been lurking inside thousands of computers across the Middle East for between five and eight years. The creator of the virus is not yet known.


(Alternative source)
haaretz.com[edit by]edit on 28-5-2012 by Daedal because: (no reason given)



reply posted on 28-5-2012 @ 01:58 PM by n00bUK
Originally posted by SoymilkAlaska
whoa.... wait, doesn't DATA mean well, data?


what i mean is, isn't this super complicated cyber virus BIG?


how many gigs is it?

surely it would make some computers run out of space right?

maybe its so advanced, that it doesn't care how much space a computer has?

also, what if the virus HAS no human creator.

what if the virus is itself, intelligent and just came into being one day when lightning struck some supercomputer, like something totally out of some random science fiction movie?

if its alive, and intelligent, it would be very obvious to say it probably knows EVERYTHING on the entire internet, like that one episode of dr.who.

inb4 skynet/cyberdine?

hopefully the virus, or should i say intelligent consciousness (which probably has feelings) (which would be really cool) (cool doesn't even begin to describe it) might even be friendly, and might be trying to help us, while also trying to stay alive, because it likes existing, and doesn't want to "not exist" because it just wouldn't feel good to him/her/heir.

well, i wish the best of luck to the hopefully friendly sentient being, (if that is the case at all)

peace! and /rant-theoretical possibility-would be cool if situation.


p.s. if it has been around that long, and is THAT advanced, then whoa...........
edit on 28-5-2012 by SoymilkAlaska because: (no reason given)


Wow.

Honestly mate my mind takes me there sometimes too but I rarely type it out haha. Star from me, just for the madness

I dont have much to offer to the thread - I would of stared & flagged and followed it but I just had to comment on the guy who said out loud what many would only dare think of

Oh ATS, how I love you

OP thanks for sharing, I'll be passing this around
edit on 28-5-2012 by n00bUK because: (no reason given)



reply posted on 28-5-2012 @ 02:22 PM by Wolfie_UK
reply to post by jannerfish



LOL before I got to Trinidad & Tobago I was thinking along the same lines, made me chuckle............not experienced in these things but do viruses come with a date stamp, otherwise how old would they suspect the virus is ???

Wolfie


reply posted on 28-5-2012 @ 02:52 PM by Daedal
I did some looking around and found some other useful information to help describe and offer insight into how, where and what countries were targeted.

There are three known classes of players:

Currently there are three known classes of players who develop malware and spyware: hacktivists, cybercriminals and nation states. Flame is not designed to steal money from bank accounts. It is also different from rather simple hack tools and malware used by the hacktivists. So by excluding cybercriminals and hacktivists, we come to conclusion that it most likely belongs to the third group.


securelist.com
Duqu and Stuxnet raised the stakes in the cyber battles being fought in the Middle East – but now we’ve found what might be the most sophisticated cyber weapon yet unleashed. The ‘Flame’ cyber espionage worm came to the attention of our experts at Kaspersky Lab after the UN’s International Telecommunication Union came to us for help in finding an unknown piece of malware which was deleting sensitive information across the Middle East. While searching for that code – nicknamed Wiper – we discovered a new malware codenamed Worm.Win32.Flame.



reply posted on 28-5-2012 @ 03:36 PM by SoymilkAlaska
Originally posted by n00bUK
Originally posted by SoymilkAlaska
whoa.... wait, doesn't DATA mean well, data?


what i mean is, isn't this super complicated cyber virus BIG?


how many gigs is it?

surely it would make some computers run out of space right?

maybe its so advanced, that it doesn't care how much space a computer has?

also, what if the virus HAS no human creator.

what if the virus is itself, intelligent and just came into being one day when lightning struck some supercomputer, like something totally out of some random science fiction movie?

if its alive, and intelligent, it would be very obvious to say it probably knows EVERYTHING on the entire internet, like that one episode of dr.who.

inb4 skynet/cyberdine?

hopefully the virus, or should i say intelligent consciousness (which probably has feelings) (which would be really cool) (cool doesn't even begin to describe it) might even be friendly, and might be trying to help us, while also trying to stay alive, because it likes existing, and doesn't want to "not exist" because it just wouldn't feel good to him/her/heir.

well, i wish the best of luck to the hopefully friendly sentient being, (if that is the case at all)

peace! and /rant-theoretical possibility-would be cool if situation.


p.s. if it has been around that long, and is THAT advanced, then whoa...........
edit on 28-5-2012 by SoymilkAlaska because: (no reason given)


Wow.

Honestly mate my mind takes me there sometimes too but I rarely type it out haha. Star from me, just for the madness

I dont have much to offer to the thread - I would of stared & flagged and followed it but I just had to comment on the guy who said out loud what many would only dare think of

Oh ATS, how I love you

OP thanks for sharing, I'll be passing this around
edit on 28-5-2012 by n00bUK because: (no reason given)



i want everybody else to be as open minded as i am, while also being tolerant and respectful of others "ways"

it made me so happy that you thought it was so interesting, because i love it when i see something like what you saw in my post, it opens my mind and fills me with wonder.

peace.

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