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Online freedom activists have details of nuclear-damaging Stuxnet worm

Late last month the Metropolitan police arrested and then released five people on bail, including three teenagers, it suspected of being involved in December attacks in support of WikiLeaks.

“Anonymous” claims to have Stuxnet access Online activists say they have details of worm that delayed Iran’s nuclear programme Josh Halliday guardian.co.uk, 14 February 2011 The “hacktivist” group Anonymous claims to have access to the sophisticated computer virus reportedly developed as a joint Israeli-US cyber attack against Iran‘s nuclear facilities.

Anonymous says it has obtained details of the Stuxnet worm from the emails of HBGary, a US security company the loose hacker collective attacked earlier this month.

It is not yet clear whether Anonymous plans to deploy the computer virus, but last week the group signalled an intention to attack Iranian government websites in support of a planned green movement rally in Tehran.

However, security experts told the Guardian on Monday that even though Anonymous does have access to parts of Stuxnet, it does not control the crucial code enabling it to attack Iran’s Bushehr nuclear plant – an attack Russia’s Nato ambassador said could potentially trigger a “new Chernobyl“…..

Computer viruses are largely uncharted territory for Anonymous, which has built its notoriety on crippling the websites of governments and multinational corporations, such as Visa and MasterCard, which it deems a threat to freedom of speech.

Late last month the Metropolitan police arrested and then released five people on bail, including three teenagers, it suspected of being involved in December attacks in support of WikiLeaks.

Snorre Fagerland, a senior threat researcher at the Norwegian internet security firm Norman, said it would be “very difficult” for Anonymous to use its version of Stuxnet in an attack. The hacker collective has obtained a “decompiled” version of the virus, rather than the critical source code which would enable an attack…..

A new Symantec report released on Friday shows that Stuxnet was built to repeatedly infect five key industrial facilities in Iran over a 10-month period.

The worm, reportedly tested at Israel’s nuclear development centre at Dimona, worked by sending Iran’s centrifuges spinning out of control, while making it appear that everything was working as normal.

Anonymous claims to have Stuxnet access | Technology | guardian.co.uk

February 15, 2011 - Posted by Christina Macpherson | 2 WORLD, secrets,lies and civil liberties