US officials confirm Stuxnet was a joint US-Israeli op

US officials confirm Stuxnet was a joint US-Israeli op

www.theregister.co.uk

Cyberattacks on Iranian nuclear program were a US-Israel effort started under the Bush administration and continued by President Obama, The New York Times reports.

The confirmation from Obama-administration officials that Stuxnet was a joint US-operation comes from extracts from a forthcoming book, Confront and Conceal: Obama's Secret Wars and Surprising Use of American Power, by David Sanger that's due to be published next week.

(visit the link for the full news article)

I have been following the Stuxnet story since it first appeared. This has been a very interesting trip.

I am beginning to wonder if the newly acknowledged "Flame" worm was merely a first attempt at building a Stuxnet type weapon.

Ladies and gentlemen, we are now firmly in the Cyber-Warfare age. As our networks become more and more interconnected, these methods of attack will become more prevalent. Hacking is no longer the purview of lone geeks in their mothers basement or even groups of hobbiests working together. Hacking is now a state sponsored method of conducting espionage, sabotage and covert warfare.

Buckle up, it may be a bumpy ride....

www.theregister.co.uk
(visit the link for the full news article)

Here are some additional articles in relation to this story...

Massive cyber attack on Iran came from U.S., report says

It reads like a riveting sci-fi novel, but it's stunningly real: A super-sophisticated malicious computer virus burrowed its way into Iran's nuclear facilities and took down several parts of the operation. Oh, and it apparently came from us. In 2010, it was the U.S. who launched Stuxnet, a seek-and-destroy cyber missile so sophisticated that some briefly thought it might have an other-than-earthly origin, against Iran's nuclear infrastructure, according to a New York Times report. The virus was, in fact, created jointly by the U.S. and Israel.

Report: Obama accelerated cyber attacks against Iran

The Obama administration reportedly ordered "increasingly sophisticated" cyber attacks against Iranian networks linked to nuclear enrichment facilities. According to David E. Sanger of the New York Times, Obama decided to accelerate the attacks - begun during the Bush administration - even after the notorious Stuxnet worm escaped the confines of Iran's Natanz plant.

Obama Order Sped Up Wave of Cyberattacks Against Iran

From his first months in office, President Obama secretly ordered increasingly sophisticated attacks on the computer systems that run Iran’s main nuclear enrichment facilities, significantly expanding America’s first sustained use of cyberweapons, according to participants in the program.

S tuxnet was work of U.S. and Israeli experts, officials say

A damaging cyberattack against Iran’s nuclear program was the work of U.S. and Israeli experts and proceeded under the secret orders of President Obama, who was eager to slow Iran’s apparent progress toward building an atomic bomb without launching a traditional military attack, say current and former U.S. officials. The origins of the cyberweapon, which outside analysts dubbed Stuxnet after it was discovered in 2010, have long been debated, with most experts concluding that the United States and Israel likely collaborated on the effort. The current and former U.S. officials confirmed that long-standing suspicion Friday, after a New York Times report on the program.

Wow, who would have thought US government officials knew how to create viruses and attack other countries with them. I say kudos on our part.

I thought the US government was kinda against cyber terrorism...and wouldn't dare use it...

But isn't this better than a full blown WWIII? YES!

I thought it was the evil Chinese and their hackers, or the evil Iranians and their master saboteurs, or the evil... Oh wait.

Global politics is kind of like high school when the popular girls go around sleeping with each other's boyfriends and get into a cat fight now and then.

reply to post by BomSquad


Good morning. Just read that we've entered the age of cyber warfare. Thanks for the cool intro made today a little more official.
Most people tend to marginalize these things and don't appreciate the full magnitude of the situation until they're shin deep in SHTF.

reply to post by jjf3rd77


I think they should be ashamed.

The Internet is a medium for billions of people. Now they will 'wage war' on it. Sort of like bombing weddings because a member of Al Qaeda or one of their relatives is there.

The Internet is not theirs to use without hesitation. They will end up destroying the very last communication medium we have that doesn't rely on middlemen to edit and produce content.

No, I refuse to give the like of these warmongering businessmen my "kudos" for taking yet another tool they don't own, and weaponizing it for their profiteering and entertainment.

Originally posted by boncho
Global politics is kind of like high school when the popular girls go around sleeping with each other's boyfriends and get into a cat fight now and then.

I am willing to bet a few bored bottom feeders in london and washington have nothing better to do in their utterly miserable existance as humans, more like cockroaches, then to play perpetual wargames and conceal critical technology.

Who would of thought that iran and syria are all talk, and america and israel are all work!

Pathetic!!

Originally posted by jjf3rd77

I thought the US government was kinda against cyber terrorism...and wouldn't dare use it...

US government is also against using Nuclear Weapons.........................................

Only thing I can think of that was launched in 2010 was the X37 This would be during the STUXNET days.

While everyone was looking at the computers for possible sign of breakin, somewhere in the heavens something else was possibly hacking the SATCOM(s) ? just a thought since this is a conspiracy theory forum

X37

Originally posted by CALGARIAN

Originally posted by jjf3rd77

I thought the US government was kinda against cyber terrorism...and wouldn't dare use it...

US government is also against using Nuclear Weapons.........................................

... and torture... and biochemical weapons testing... and destructive exploitation of the environment.... and social inequality... and economic warfare ... and military oppression... and interfering in a foreign democratically-elected government....

Stuxnet Worm Crafted by U.S., Israel to Thwart Iran's Nuclear Program

The Stuxnet virus that emerged in 2010 was a cyber weapon jointly developed by U.S. and Israeli officials in an effort to shut down the development of Iran's nuclear program, according to a report from the New York Times.

Stuxnet, an effort known as Olympic Games among U.S. intelligence officials, started in the Bush administration and continued after President Obama took office. It was intended to only affect the Natanz plant in Iran, but was mistakenly unleashed on the global Web.

Just more information in regards to this development...

reply to post by hp1229


SkyTerra-1, in orbit on November 14, 2010.

Sky Terra filed for Chapter 11 after they were refused contacts because of GPS interference. That would be the same time Iran hacked a drone through GPS. SkyTerra is tied to OPnet, TinyOS spy tech, Bozz Allen Hamilton who runs the drone program for the CIA and even News Corp. Then you have people like Dixon Doll and In-q-Tel funding of spy programs like Facebook and RENREN even FORTRAN and TinyOS programming languages.

More information here:
www.abovetopsecret.com...
[in a duplicate of this topic]

The Pandora's Box of Stuxnet, Duqu, and Flame

It would be awesome if someone could develop a stealth computer program that could infiltrate enemy systems to surreptitiously gather data, or possibly even to shut down or damage elements of the nation’s critical infrastructure. It would be a much more efficient method of obtaining covert intelligence or crippling enemy capabilities without putting lives in danger.

Of course, the code might be discovered by the enemy or a third-party, and all of the brilliant engineering that went into developing the threat might also be used against its creator. Creating such a threat is a Pandora’s Box that can have serious negative consequences. In a nutshell, that seems to be how the Stuxnet virus is unfolding.

And that really is the crux of Cyber-Warfare...once you use it, your same code can be re-used against you. A tweak here, a tweak there and soon IranianStuxnet is bringing down the US power grid....or some such target.

I'm not saying this is likely to happen, but the possibility is definitely there. You can't unscramble eggs, and you can't make the world forget that this type of cyber-warfare is possible...and is now probable....

Originally posted by JBA2848
reply to post by hp1229

 

SkyTerra-1, in orbit on November 14, 2010.

Sky Terra filed for Chapter 11 after they were refused contacts because of GPS interference. That would be the same time Iran hacked a drone through GPS. SkyTerra is tied to OPnet, TinyOS spy tech, Bozz Allen Hamilton who runs the drone program for the CIA and even News Corp. Then you have people like Dixon Doll and In-q-Tel funding of spy programs like Facebook and RENREN even FORTRAN and TinyOS programming languages.

X37B launched on April 22, 2010. Stuxnet reported by Iran on 27th September, 2010.

SkyTerra launched their 1st satellite on Nov 14, 2010. The company that launched 'LightSquared' has a significant background in the mobile and satcom segment. The CEO (Sanjiv Ahuja) is an ex-ceo of Bellcore & IBM. Bellcore (now Telcordia) still supports majority of the baby bells telephony software. I am puzzled as per why they had not considered the interference during prototyping? Could it be just a case of striking a deal by donating funds at fundraisers? Notice the CEO's portfolio around the world and the companies he is affiliated with Certainly just a speculation but definitely worth noticing.

Sanjiv Ahuja

Funny thing is that current POTUS had also purchased shares and had sold it for a loss Look under the controversies.

LightSquared
Funny part is that current POTUS tried to shut the doors down on LightSquared and FCC is trying to save it.
POTUS_Kill_Of_LightSquared

FCC_TRYING_TO_SAVE

reply to post by BomSquad


What is most interesting is that the administration has come out and confirmed what everyone already knew. There is no plausible deniability left here.

What if Stuxnet had seen Bushehr critical? The irresponsibility toward the citizenry of the region is hardly surprising given the past century of western activity in the ME. Still Israel could have been directly effected.

The hypocrisy of labeling China as the center of the cyber threat is galling.

Originally posted by BomSquad


I have been following the Stuxnet story since it first appeared. This has been a very interesting trip.

I am beginning to wonder if the newly acknowledged "Flame" worm was merely a first attempt at building a Stuxnet type weapon.

Ladies and gentlemen, we are now firmly in the Cyber-Warfare age. As our networks become more and more interconnected, these methods of attack will become more prevalent. Hacking is no longer the purview of lone geeks in their mothers basement or even groups of hobbiests working together. Hacking is now a state sponsored method of conducting espionage, sabotage and covert warfare.

Buckle up, it may be a bumpy ride....

www.theregister.co.uk
(visit the link for the full news article)

What's funny is that the so-dubbed "internet kill switch" was supposedly for the increasing problems we as a nation could face because of such attacks. Us starting the ball rolling with this is funny, is it not? I have to say and have been saying this for a while, that these measures are put in place for one reason and it has little to nothing to do with protecting Americans and the country's infrastructure. It has to do with removing the internet from us. The internet is a hindrance to politics-as-usual and all the shady stuff that goes down. Sites such as this light up within minutes of certain events or pop up with pics of government ne'r-do-wells in a heartbeat and people can communicate quickly and fully in all parts of the world. Knowledge is always a threat. Look at what has happened with protestors here and abroad over the past year. Social media is ALWAYS to blame. Remember those people in Cali last year coordinating protests in the train stations via social media on their cells? They shut down cell service in the stations to prevent it from happening.

As much as I abhor social networking, I think it is funny how it is always being blamed for terrorists coordinating or extreme anarchist protestors planning events. This happened eons before the internet. If you pay close attention to the media, social networking is mentioned almost every time anti-government protests, marches, or attacks occur. Why do you think that is? Look at the copyright bills and it spreading over into Canada. There is a reason. The best thing the U.S. government--or any government--can do is threaten us, silence us, divide us, compartmentalize issues and regions and the best way to do that is to take away the internet.

When we come "under attack" from other countries in such a way, when things get wild here with whatever is going on, the internet will easily be gone. This is the plan, people. To do such a thing to Iran and then essentially let it leak--or rather, bleed--all over the place was no an accident. Expect a retaliation and then a subsequent information black-out. I would expect this to take place prior to any unrelated event that is either planned (i.e., war) or destined (i.e., earth changes), so we are like grass blowing in the wind. How well could "preppers" prepare if they didn't know what the hell was going on first?

reply to post by Peruvianmonk


There have been rumors since the Fukushima disaster began that Stuxnet had spread outside of Iran. I'm pretty sure you can find similar allegations on this site, but word on the street is Stuxnet played a part in the meltdown. I'm not sure what I think of that, just putting that out there.