The ‘Flame’ Computer Virus Strikes Iran, ‘Worse Than Stuxnet’

By Chana Ya’ar, INN

Iranian security experts report a virus far more dangerous than the Stuxnet worm has struck the country’s computer systems.

Dubbed the “Flame,” the virus is one that has struck not only Iran, however, but a number of other enemies of Israel as well.

The Kaspersky Internet security firm is calling the “Flame” data-stealing virus the “most sophisticated cyber-weapon yet unleashed” and hinted it may have been created by the makers of the Stuxnet worm.

Kaspersky called the virus a “cyber-espionage worm” designed to collect and delete sensitive information, primarily in Middle Eastern countries.

The “Flame” has struck at least 600 specific computer systems in Iran, Syria, Lebanon, Egypt, Sudan, Saudi Arabia and the Palestinian Authority, Kaspersky malware expert Vitaly Kamluk told the BBC. He added that the virus has probably been operating discreetly for at least two years.

“This virus is stronger than its predecessor,” he said. “It is one that could only have been created by a state or other large entity.”

Problems in Iran’s computer systems are also continuing to surface in connection with the 2010 “Stuxnet” virus. The malware successfully disabled the computers that operated Iran’s uranium enrichment facility. More than 16,000 of the Natanz facility’s centrifuges were destroyed as a result of the cyber attack.

May 28, 2012 | 3 Comments »

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  1. Components enable those behind it, who use a network of rapidly-shifting “command and control” servers to direct the virus, to turn microphone into listening devices, siphon off documents and log keystrokes

    I thought those features were standard Homeland Security fare on American computers — just Big Brother same-o, same-o.

    Meanwhile, Iran seems to have intensified its U-235 enrichment program IN SPITE OF 16,000 centrifuges being destroyed. I’ll believe Iran is being effectively dealt with, when I see the smoke of its burning and its leaders put out of power.

  2. A year and a half ago I wrote an article Is stuxnet the new Ultra?
    http://www.americanthinker.com/blog/2010/09/is_stuxnet_the_new_ultra.html

    I guess stuxnet was just the tip of the iceberg and that now Israel has the exact picture where Iran stands with its bomb development

    http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/middleeast/iran/9295938/Flame-worlds-most-complex-computer-virus-exposed.html

    The file, which infects Microsoft Windows computers, has five encryption algorithms, exotic data storage formats and the ability to steal documents, spy on computer users and more. Components enable those behind it, who use a network of rapidly-shifting “command and control” servers to direct the virus, to turn microphone into listening devices, siphon off documents and log keystrokes