James Delahunty
5 Mar 2011 15:29
German security researcher Ralph Langner has told an audience at this years TED conference that the United States and Israel were most likely behind the Stuxnet malware.
He said that the malware was designed specifically to cripple systems related to Iran's nuclear program. Langner was one of the first researchers to show how Stuxnet is used to take control of industrial equipment. The most likely target of the malware was equipment used for the enrichment of uranium.
"My opinion is that Mossad is involved," he said. "There is only one leading source, and that is the United States."
Symantec had suggested in a report on Stuxnet that it would have taken a team of between 5 and 10 developers about six months to create the Stuxnet worm. Langner says they needed to have inside information to get the worm to its intended targets and to carry out its duties.
Analysts say that Stuxnet was likely designed to damage centrifuges used in the process of enriching uranium. The worm targeted programmable logic controllers (PLCs) made by Siemens, which are used to control a wide variety of industrial systems.
Iran's Interior Ministry denied earlier this week that Stuxnet was responsible for a shutdown at the Bushehr nuclear reactor. Despite the thorough analysis done of Stuxnet itself, there is no hard evidence to link either the United States or Israel to its development.