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Nuclear power plants are vulnerable to the Stuxnet worm!

after finding a way into a plant’s system, the worm can simply steal data or potentially wreak havoc, causing its systems such as cooling pumps to malfunction.

Analysts: Stuxnet Raises Concerns About Vulnerability of Nuclear, Industrial Facilties , News.com, William Ide , 28 Sept 10, A powerful computer virus called the Stuxnet worm has apparently targeted Iran’s Bushehr nuclear power plant and infected computer systems from Asia to Europe and the United States. The capability of this malicious software is raising questions about the vulnerability of nuclear, electrical and other types of industrial facilities.

While Iranian officials say infected systems at the Bushehr nuclear power plant are safe, those who work in cyber security are not as calm, and note that the attack opens the door for a range of threats that until now were largely theoretical. Sami Saydjari, the president and founder of the Cyber Defense Agency says the creation of this malicious software or malware shows that people are now willing and have the capability to attack industrial systems. “To begin targetting industrial control systems and to put people’s lives at risk and systems at risk. That’s a big change,” he said. Stuxnet Targeted Control Systems

Researchers say Stuxnet was designed to target control systems like those used at the Bushehr plant in Iran. In particular, they say it targets supervisory control and data aquisition systems or SCADA systems designed by the German company Siemens.

They say that after finding a way into a plant’s system, the worm can simply steal data or potentially wreak havoc, causing its systems such as cooling pumps to malfunction.

Analysts: Stuxnet Raises Concerns About Vulnerability of Nuclear, Industrial Facilties | Middle East | English

September 29, 2010 - Posted by Christina Macpherson | 2 WORLD, safety | antinuclear, nuclear secrecy, nuclear spin, nuclear technology, reactors