Dark Reading is part of the Informa Tech Division of Informa PLC

This site is operated by a business or businesses owned by Informa PLC and all copyright resides with them.Informa PLC's registered office is 5 Howick Place, London SW1P 1WG. Registered in England and Wales. Number 8860726.

Database Security
Authentication
Mobile
Privacy
Compliance
Careers and People
Identity & Access Management
Security Monitoring
Advanced Threats
Insider Threats
Vulnerability Management
Comments
Stuxnet 'Patient Zero' Attack Targets Revealed
Newest First  |  Oldest First  |  Threaded View
RetiredUser
50%
50%
RetiredUser,
 User Rank: Ninja
11/13/2014 | 6:51:44 PM
Insider Espionage?
If we are to take the information at face value, we need to think about how worms like Stuxnet are implemented.  If the computer at Foolad Technic Engineering Company was infected just hours after the worm's creation, then yes, the idea of infection via USB isn't as likely, unless the worm was either written there onsite (which could have even been done on the first computer infected) or it was downloaded by an insider who was in communication with the Stuxnet authors and was waiting for it to be completed before downloading it.  There is great significance in the short time frame between creation of Stuxnet and infection of the first computer.  We could be looking at insider espionage, and investigation of who was working at Foolad during that timeframe will likely lead to identification of the original perpetrators.  I'm no political scientist, but after reading all the original articles linked from the Wikipedia page on Stuxnet, and newer ones since, one wonders if we aren't actually looking at self-sabotage (whether or not the actual writers of the code were based in Iran – it could have been made to order).  

I recall reading that several facts of the attack would make self-sabotage out of the question, the argument being that if the Iranians at the plants were going to sabotage themselves, they wouldn't create such a complex worm to do it.  Expense, intelligence involved, sheer hours to develop the work and the fact all the exploits it used were exposed and can't necessarily be used again; all point to external players.  Additionally, highly-guarded authentic private keys from two large companies were compromised and used to digitally-sign the worm, making the software "authentic", and the fact that four (at least) zero-day exploits were used to spread this worm - hardcore.  But I'd argue that we've seen more sophistication in the Middle East that we'd previously given credit for, even if it was gained through working with outsiders.  Remember, these plants are staffed with sharp engineers and whatever the reason for it, there could easily have been a motive for someone in one of the organizations listed, Foolad standing out, to kick off Stuxnet.         
Marilyn Cohodas
50%
50%
Marilyn Cohodas,
 User Rank: Strategist
11/12/2014 | 8:47:01 AM
Re: stuxnet
Yes, I definately want to put the book on my reading list...
Bprince
50%
50%
Bprince,
 User Rank: Ninja
11/12/2014 | 8:17:01 AM
stuxnet
The malware was a game changer in so many ways. Looking forward to reading this when I get a chance.
RyanSepe
50%
50%
RyanSepe,
 User Rank: Ninja
11/12/2014 | 7:46:39 AM
Re: Stuxnet
Agreed, it truly is fascinating and terrifying at the same time. Has this attack evolved since its original inception or has it remained pretty close to a constant?
Thomas Claburn
50%
50%
Thomas Claburn,
 User Rank: Ninja
11/11/2014 | 5:25:18 PM
Stuxnet
I find the Stuxnet endlessly fascinating. I look forward to reading Kim Zetter's account.


Edge-DRsplash-10-edge-articles
I Smell a RAT! New Cybersecurity Threats for the Crypto Industry
David Trepp, Partner, IT Assurance with accounting and advisory firm BPM LLP,  7/9/2021
News
Attacks on Kaseya Servers Led to Ransomware in Less Than 2 Hours
Robert Lemos, Contributing Writer,  7/7/2021
Commentary
It's in the Game (but It Shouldn't Be)
Tal Memran, Cybersecurity Expert, CYE,  7/9/2021
Register for Dark Reading Newsletters
White Papers
Video
Cartoon
Current Issue
How Data Breaches Affect the Enterprise
Data breaches continue to cause negative outcomes for companies worldwide. However, many organizations report that major impacts have declined significantly compared with a year ago, suggesting that many have gotten better at containing breach fallout. Download Dark Reading's Report "How Data Breaches Affect the Enterprise" to delve more into this timely topic.
Flash Poll
Twitter Feed
Dark Reading - Bug Report
Bug Report
Enterprise Vulnerabilities
From DHS/US-CERT's National Vulnerability Database
CVE-2021-44093
PUBLISHED: 2021-11-28
A Remote Command Execution vulnerability on the background in zrlog 2.2.2, at the upload avatar function, could bypass the original limit, upload the JSP file to get a WebShell
CVE-2021-44094
PUBLISHED: 2021-11-28
ZrLog 2.2.2 has a remote command execution vulnerability at plugin download function, it could execute any JAR file
CVE-2021-4020
PUBLISHED: 2021-11-27
janus-gateway is vulnerable to Improper Neutralization of Input During Web Page Generation ('Cross-site Scripting')
CVE-2021-23654
PUBLISHED: 2021-11-26
This affects all versions of package html-to-csv. When there is a formula embedded in a HTML page, it gets accepted without any validation and the same would be pushed while converting it into a CSV file. Through this a malicious actor can embed or generate a malicious link or execute commands via C...
CVE-2021-43785
PUBLISHED: 2021-11-26
@joeattardi/emoji-button is a Vanilla JavaScript emoji picker component. In affected versions there are two vectors for XSS attacks: a URL for a custom emoji, and an i18n string. In both of these cases, a value can be crafted such that it can insert a `script` tag into the page and execute malicious...