Iran Nuclear Facility - Thunderstruck

[Jibbles]

Malware can be a major pain for anyone with a computer or mobile device, as it can lead to security risks like identity theft. But when a virus targets a nuclear facility, the stakes are much much higher. According to a report on security site F-Secure, Iran's nuclear energy group — called the Atomic Energy Organization of Iran, or AEOI for short — is reaching out for help to rid its system of a malicious program that not only threatens the facility's daily operations, but also plays a 90s rock anthem on the infected computers.
An email to F-Secure — allegedly sent from an AEOI scientist — detailed the attack, noting that the malware has shut down some of the facility's automated processes. The rather vague wording of the email leaves a few unanswered questions as to just what parts of the AEOI are in danger, but one piece of information was very clear: The insidious software prompted several of the group's computers to begin playing the song "Thunderstruck" by AC/DC in the middle of the night, and at full volume.
This isn't the first time Iran has come under fire from cyber criminals, and it likely won't be the last. But the attackers' decision to play classic rock songs on infected computers is perhaps the most unorthodox way of alerting a nuclear facility that it has fallen victim to hackers.
This article was written by Mike Wehner and originally appeared on Tecca

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/blogs/technology-b...06981.html

[Duchess]

Heh

[Donovan]

I still think it's black ops trying very hard to look like haxxorz.. Real hackers would probably be quieter so as not to be any easier to detect in the system...

[HairOfTheDog]

I still think it's black ops trying very hard to look like haxxorz.. Real hackers would probably be quieter so as not to be any easier to detect in the system...

Could be.

Could be hackers too. If they just want to cause inconvenience, throw a wrench in daily operations while the shit has to be investigated, and amuse themselves with the AC/DC blast, they're succeeding. Getting press coverage is probably a bonus.

Assuming this story is legit, hope the AEOI can trace the virus back (unlikely, imo) and that they learn who's behind it and their goal; curious.

[Jibbles]

Hacking into a government's nuclear facility is most likely another governments fault. A year or two ago, the U.S. cut a major bandwidth cord going into the Middle East (can't remember which country). You can bet your ass something happened during that internet outage.

I hope that it was an inside job (ie not via the internet), because if a nuclear facility is wired to an outside network, that's just incredibly insecure and stupid.

[Disciple]

Some time ago, 60 Minutes had a segment on this subject. I remember their expert closing with the statement that the virus was sophisticated enough that it VERY likely was the work of a country, rather than a hacker.

Unlikely that one would then announce the presence of a second virus by having the music play from the time the virus was downloaded, especially since the first time the facility was attacked by a virus it ran for years before it was discovered.

My thought is that the music probably didn't start until the Iranians proved that they had found the virus by trying to remove it.