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America’s nuclear facilities could be attacked by Stuxnet computer worm

The Stuxnet malicious software, which was discovered in June, appears to have been designed professionally

U.S. Nuclear Plants Vulnerable to Cyber Attacks, Analysts Say,  Bloomberg, By Jeff Bliss – Nov 18, 2010 U.S. computer systems that run energy, water, nuclear and manufacturing plants are vulnerable to computer worms similar to one that infected an Iranian nuclear power facility, cyber-security analysts told a Senate panel today.

The Stuxnet malicious software, which was discovered in June, appears to have been designed professionally and took advantage of four previously unknown security breaches of Microsoft Corp.’s Windows software to infiltrate computers, the analysts said.

“We are extremely susceptible,” said Michael Assante, president of the National Board of Information Security Examiners of the United States Inc., a security certification organization in Idaho Falls, Idaho. “You’re talking about a very well-resourced and structured adversary.”……….

“The very fact that Stuxnet exists shows that we can no longer pretend that a cyber attack on our critical infrastructure is hypothetical and hyperbolic,” said Lieberman, a Connecticut independent….

U.S. Nuclear Plants Vulnerable to Cyber Attacks, Analysts Say – Bloomberg

November 18, 2010 - Posted by Christina Macpherson | safety, USA | antinuclear, nuclear, nuclear costs, nuclear secrecy, nuclear technology, reactors