Our look back at the history of the most famous and deadly viruses of all time continues! Today we will look back to the year 2010, where we will encounter Stuxnet, one of the most powerful cyberwarfare weapons ever built.
The worm-type virus appeared in June 2010, affecting bank records, power plant data, traffic control systems and factories around the world.
Stuxnet targeted industrial control systems (PLCs) and was the first computer virus designed to cause damage not only in the digital, but also in the real world.
The main target of the Stuxnet virus was Iran's uranium enrichment facilities – the virus managed to penetrate the computers that control the centrifuge systems at the Natanz nuclear facilities, causing not only malfunctions, but also material damage.
According to experts, the virus interfered with the system for transmitting commands to centrifuges used for uranium enrichment, changing their speed, affecting uranium production.
[signoff icon=”icon-target”]Stuxnet researchers firmly believe that a Western state is behind the worm that hit Iran's infrastructure, with suspicion falling on the US and its allies (Israel).[/signoff]
Stuxnet spread via USB and exploited four unknown Windows vulnerabilities to infect victims' computers, while also carrying a rootkit, which was approved by a security certificate, probably stolen from Realtek Semiconductors and JMicron. The virus was designed to infect Siemens supervisory control and data acquisition (SCADA) systems, which are used to control and monitor specific industrial processes.
[alert variation=”alert-success”]The analysis of the Stuxnet computer virus by Kaspersky Labs ranks it among the most dangerous viruses of 2010. According to the researchers, Stuxnet was the most complex and intelligent malware ever designed by the attackers.[/alert]
And somewhere here, another journey has come to an end, along with our today's article.
Can you guess what the next stop on our journey is…?
