It Was Only A Matter Of Time..

Gauss: Stuxnet-Linked Cyber Weapon Hits Lebanon.  ABC News, via Yahoo:

A new cyber weapon believed to be linked by code to the infamous Stuxnet worm has been discovered stealing banking information in Lebanon, according to Moscow-based cyber security firm Kaspersky Labs.


The new malware, dubbed Gauss for an in-code reference to a German mathematician, is designed to "steal and monitor data from clients of several Lebanese banks," among other nefarious abilities. The code also includes some kind of "special warhead" that is so well encrypted that Kaspersky has been unable to identify it.

Of the more than 2,500 instances of Gauss infections in the Middle East, more than 1,600 of them were discovered in Lebanon and nearly 500 in Israel, Kaspersky said in a blog post.

Kaspersky researchers said they discovered Gauss while investigating Flame, a massive espionage program revealed in May that was able to record nearly everything done on an infected computer, including real-world conversations that took place near it.

Kaspersky researchers had previously linked specific portions of code in Flame to Stuxnet, believed to be the first-ever true cyberweapon to do actual physical damage to its target, an Iranian nuclear facility, and Duqu, a surveillance worm based on Stuxnet. Now the Russian researchers said they believe Gauss to be related to those three as well.

"After looking at Stuxnet, Duqu and Flame, we can say with a high degree of certainty that Gauss comes from the same 'factory' or 'factories,'" the blog post said.

Kaspersky and several other cyber security firms said that Stuxnet and its kin are so sophisticated and required such a commitment of time and expertise that a nation-state was most likely behind their creations. A 2010 Congressional report on Stuxnet put the U.S. and Israel at the top of a short list of probable suspects and the New York Times reported Stuxnet was developed by the two countries as part of a wave of cyber aimed at Iran.

Peter Boogaard, a spokesperson for the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, said the agency is "coordinating with our federal and private sector partners to analyze" Gauss and is "working with organizations that could potentially be affected."

Kaspersky said that while a vast majority of the infections they've detected were centered in Lebanon, there were a few instances of Gauss detected on computer systems in the U.S. and the total number of infections is still unknown.

Wouldn't it be nice if we could apply this type of focused brain power to help humanity, as opposed to vanquishing it?  The Law of Unintended Consequences should be surfacing shortly..

Meet Flame, Son Of Stuxnet

Surprise!  "Hackers" up the ante!  Not really surprising, is it?  They're not really "hackers," either..  IT World.  Whole Thing, plus some comments:

Remember Stuxnet, the malware targeted at the Iranian nuclear industry? Say hello to Flame (Win32.Flame), a 20MB piece of modern cyberwar weaponry.



Detailed by Kaspersky Lab Expert Aleks in a Questions and Answers entry on SecureList, Flame is 20 times larger than Stuxnet and has been floating around the Middle East for two years or more. It is "a backdoor, a Trojan, and it has worm-like features," according to Kaspersky, and reports to about 80 command-and-control domains. Various Flame modules can be initialized on infected systems to change the information gathered.


Flame is able to infect a fully patched Windows 7 system, indicating it leverages a zero-day exploit not yet known to security researchers. The complexity and size of Flame indicates the likely developer was a "government-sponsored entity" according to the Wall Street Journal. Other names for Flame are Flamer, Wiper, Viper, and sKyWIper. It may be the "most complex malware ever found," according to a CrySyS Lab report.


Short sighted comment:

This is an advanced mechanism employed by a state agency. The article isn't overt, but the implication is clearly that this device is of US origin and purpose. Personally, I'm happy to see the US engaging in this sort of behavior. National Defense with low cost and no lives lost!



Andrew Middleton on wired.com

How ya gonna feel there, Andy, when Flame takes out the control systems of that nuclear plant you live downwind from?  How many lives will be lost if, during the middle of summer, entire power grids across the country are taken out, for weeks, even months?  Any cyber weapon we use can ultimately be used against us.  When you design software for cyber attack, that code can be captured, re-created and sent back at us with variants we might not be expecting.

These technologies are Digital Djinn:  They are magnificent powers, and should be treated with utmost respect.  Already though, it's too late.  They're already out in the cyberscape, ready to destroy, waiting to fulfill their programmed purpose, waiting until such time when the order does come.

Technologically Modern Society stands on a precipice much, much shakier than Technologically Modern Society could ever admit.  Most of the world will be oblivious to full on cyber warfare, though:  When it happens, no one will have power, so no one will fully know what's happening..  Besides, they'll probably be more focused on more immediate needs, like life during extended blackout chaos.  But trust me, there will some Episodes of Spectacular-ity during that conflict, that is for sure..