nuclear-news

IAEA reports that computer worm stopped Iran’s uranium enrichment program

Inspectors from the International Atomic Energy Agency believe the brief stoppage of centrifuges at the Natanz uranium-enrichment site, which started on November 16, was related to the infection of the facility’s control systems by the Stuxnet computer worm,

Report: Computer Worm Stymied Iran Nuclear Sites – WSJ.com, By DAVID CRAWFORD And JAY SOLOMON, 23 Nov 10,

Iran’s nuclear-fuel production facilities were temporarily suspended this month, the United Nations nuclear watchdog said, in the latest sign of the difficulties Tehran is facing in advancing its atomic work.

Inspectors from the International Atomic Energy Agency believe the brief stoppage of centrifuges at the Natanz uranium-enrichment site, which started on November 16, was related to the infection of the facility’s control systems by the Stuxnet computer worm, according to diplomats briefed on the report.
The development, said officials with knowledge of the nuclear program, has compounded problems Iran is already facing in running and scaling up the centrifuge cascades at the site in central Iran…….

Beginning in June, Iran reported computer attacks on its industrial nuclear installations, including Natanz and the nuclear power reactor in Bushehr.

Independent computer engineers have, subsequently, reported that the Stuxnet worm had been designed to attack computer operating systems of sophisticated machinery—and most of the systems affected by the worm have been in Iran. Speculation has focused on either Israel or the U.S. as the source of the worm, something neither country has confirmed or denied…….

Report: Computer Worm Stymied Iran Nuclear Sites – WSJ.com

November 24, 2010 - Posted by Christina Macpherson | general