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![]() by Staff Writers Tehran (AFP) Sept 26, 2010
The malicious Stuxnet computer worm has hit 30,000 industrial computers in Iran, officials said on Sunday, but denied the Islamic republic's first nuclear plant at Bushehr was among those infected. So far, Stuxnet has infected about 30,000 IP addresses in Iran, Mahmoud Liayi, head of the information technology council at the ministry of industries, was quoted as saying by the government-run newspaper Iran Daily. Stuxnet, which was publicly identified in June, was tailored for Siemens supervisory control and data acquisition, or SCADA, systems commonly used to manage water supplies, oil rigs, power plants and other industrial facilities. The worm is able to recognise a specific facility's control network and then destroy it, according to German computer security researcher Ralph Langner, who has been analysing the malicious software. Langner said he suspected Stuxnet was targetting Bushehr nuclear power plant, where unspecified problems have been blamed for delays in getting the facility fully operational. Siemens said its software has not been installed at the plant, and an Iranian official denied the malware may have infected nuclear facilities. "This virus has not caused any damage to the main systems of the Bushehr power plant," Bushehr project manager Mahmoud Jafari said on Iran's Arabic-language Al-Alam television network. "All computer programmes in the plant are working normally and have not crashed due to Stuxnet," said Jafari, adding there was no problem with the plant's fuel supply. The official IRNA news agency meanwhile quoted him as saying the worm had infected some "personal computers of the plant's personnel." And he told Fars news agency that so far, five versions of the malware had been detected in Iran. Echoing Jafari's denial, the deputy head of Iran's Atomic Energy Organisation in charge of safety and security, Asghar Zarean, said neither the plant nor the organisation's computers were affected. "Due to the precautions we have already employed for our systems, in our investigations we have not come across any penetration by the virus into our systems," Zarean was quoted as saying by IRNA. The self-replicating worm has been found lurking on Siemens systems mostly in India, Indonesia and Pakistan, but the heaviest infiltration appears to be in Iran, according to researchers. Telecommunications minister Reza Taqipour said "the worm has not been able to penetrate or cause serious damage to government systems." According to Iran Daily, telecoms official Saeed Mahdiyoun said "teams of experts had begun to systematically eliminate the virus." Meanwhile Liayi said given its complexity, Stuxnet was "likely a (foreign) government project," without giving details. The newspaper cited various experts who suggested the United States and Israel were behind the malware, evoking the "West's electronic warfare against Iran." Liayi said industries were currently receiving systems to combat Stuxnet, while stressing Iran had decided not to use anti-virus software developed by Siemens because "they could be carrying a new version of the malware." "When Stuxnet is activated, the industrial automation systems start transmitting data about production lines to a main designated destination by the virus," Liayi said. "There, the data is processed by the worm's architects and then engineer plots to attack the country." Iran's nuclear ambitions are at the heart of a conflict between Tehran and the West, which suspects the Islamic republic is seeking to develop atomic weapons under the cover of a civilian drive. Tehran denies the allegation and has pressed on with its enrichment programme -- the most controversial aspect of its nuclear activities -- despite four sets of UN Security Council sanctions.
earlier related report US President Barack Obama and Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad were both in the spotlight, though they never met, at the UN General Assembly meetings, on a day of dueling rhetoric and diplomatic jockeying for position. Ahmadinejad said an Iranian official may meet European Union foreign affairs chief Catherine Ashton next month in a bid to open new international talks on a program which the West says is a quest for nuclear weapons. He said some of the six powers negotiating on the nuclear dispute -- Britain, China, France, Germany, Russia and the United States -- had had contacts with Iranian Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki at the UN this week. Ahmadinejad inisted it was up to Ashton to initiative moves for what he said was a meeting in October scheduled under a longstanding plan. "If Ms Ashton contacts the Iranian representative she can set a time for talks," the Iranian leader told a press conference. Denis McDonough, chief of staff of Obama's National Security, noted that Ashton reached out to Iran earlier this year, but never heard back. "When she hears back, we will know whether they are serious or not," he said. A day after telling Iran that the door for diplomacy was still open, Obama told the BBC Persian service that a genuine dialogue could see tough new sanctions on Iran removed, along with the fear of armed confrontation. "Our strong preference is to resolve these issues diplomatically. I think that's in Iran's interest. I think that is in the interest of the international community," Obama said. "I think it remains possible, but it is going to require a change in mindset inside the Iranian government." Obama targeted Ahmadinejad over his tirade to the UN Security Council on Thursday, in which he suggested the US government staged the September 11 attacks in 2001. "It was offensive, it was hateful," Obama said, slamming Ahmadinejad's remarks, and bemoaning the fact the outburst occurred in Manhattan, so close to the Ground Zero footprint of the felled World Trade Center twin towers. About 3,000 people died in the attacks by Al-Qaeda operatives who hijacked passenger jets and flew them into the World Trade Center in New York and the Pentagon in Washington. A fourth plane crashed in Pennsylvania. Ahmadinejad said in his speech that there was a theory that "some segments within the US government orchestrated the attack." "The majority of the American people as well as other nations and politicians agree with this view," he declared to the astonished chamber prompting the US and other Western delegations to leave the assembly hall. Ahmadinejad showed no desire to quell the controversy on Friday, calling for a UN probe into the "true reason" for the strikes, which he said led to US military actions that killed thousands in Iraq and Afghanistan. In another development, freed US hiker Sarah Shourd said she met Ahmadinejad in New York to plead for the release of her finance and a friend still jailed in Iran. Shourd, 32, was released last week after being detained in July 2009 in Iran, but had to leave behind her fiance Shane Bauer and friend Josh Fattal. The hikers say they strayed by accident into Iran in July 2009 while hiking in the mountains in Iraqi Kurdistan. But Iranian authorities have alleged that they were spying. Despite painstaking diplomacy, Iran has so far refused to accept an EU and US package of engagement and incentives to halt what the West says is a drive for nuclear weapons -- a charge Tehran denies. US officials said here that they believe that the tough new range of sanctions imposed on Iran four months ago is beginning to bite, and has exacted a deeper toll on the economy than the government expected. However, Obama admitted in his BBC interview that there were "no guarantees" the sanctions would force Iran to change its behavior, though expressed hopes they would cause deep reflection among Iranian leaders.
Related Links Learn about nuclear weapons doctrine and defense at SpaceWar.com Learn about missile defense at SpaceWar.com All about missiles at SpaceWar.com Learn about the Superpowers of the 21st Century at SpaceWar.com
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