Legit News
Flame Virus Possibly Joint Developed By United States & Israel
According to a report in the Washington Post, the United States and Israel could be behind the development of the extremely sophisticated piece of malware named Flame. It seems it's no coincidence that Flame uses pieces of code from the Stuxnet virus which was used to cause malfunctions in Iran's nuclear-enrichment equipment. Thus it comes as no real surprise at this point that as more details emerge about Flame it looks to be the first example of a sustained cyber-sabotage campaign against a potential adversary of the United States. Flame and Stuxnet according to a U.S intelligence official were part of a much larger assault that continues even now. Flame which we reported on earlier came to light after it was detected by Iran during a cyber attack on their oil industry. The attack was directed by Israel in what is believed to be a unilateral operation that caught American partners completely off guard. Currently the role the United States has played in developing Flame is just speculation and the joint venture between the U.S. and Israel is still unconfirmed. That said when commercial security researchers can pick out code in Flame that is identical to Stuxnet in what experts describe as DNA-like evidence lends credence that both sets of malware were likely parallel projects by the same entity. Tom Parker, Chief Technology Officer for FusionX, laid it out by saying “This is not something that most security researchers have the skills or resources to do,” and that while he doesn't know who is truly responsible “You’d expect that of only the most advanced cryptomathematicians, such as those working at NSA.” Currently the CIA, NSA, the Office of the Director of National Intelligence and the Israeli Embassy in Washington have apparently all declined to comment.
The virus is among the most sophisticated and subversive pieces of malware to be exposed to date. Experts said the program was designed to replicate across even highly secure networks, then control everyday computer functions to send secrets back to its creators. The code could activate computer microphones and cameras, log keyboard strokes, take screen shots, extract geolocation data from images, and send and receive commands and data through Bluetooth wireless technology.
Posted by | Thu, Jun 21, 2012 - 10:44 AM
Socialize