The infamous Stuxnet worm has become a symbol of sophisticated cyberattacks since its 1,001st version was discovered in 2010. However, a new publication from Symantec shows that the malware's development began much earlier than initially thought.
The security firm discovered Stuxnet in version 0.5, which had already existed since November 2005. It stopped spreading on July 4, 2009.
Stuxnet 0.5 was not as aggressive as newer versions, but it was still capable of causing some serious damage.
While its primary target was Iranian nuclear facilities, its earlier variant featured an alternative attack strategy. It was designed to close valves inside the uranium enrichment facility in Natanz, Iran.
“Whether Stuxnet 0.5 was successful is unclear, but newer versions of Stuxnet were developed using a different development framework, became more aggressive, and used a different attack strategy,” Symantec explains.
Unlike later versions of Stuxnet, which were based on the Tilded platform, version 0.5 was based on the Flamer platform.
Another notable thing about Stuxnet 0.5 is that it had a payload that only works on Siemens 417 programmable logic controllers (PLCs) and does not contain any Microsoft exploits.
The detailed report on Stuxnet 0.5 is available here. (PDF)
Symantec has also published an interesting video explaining how Stuxnet 0.5 attempted to sabotage the Natanz facility:
