nuclear-news

A computer virus was used to hack into locations including three luxury hotels that have hosted negotiations between Iran and six world powers, the Russian computer security company Kaspersky Lab said on Wednesday.

“On 12 May 2015, a house search took place in Geneva and IT hardware as well as software was seized. The aim of the aforementioned house search was to seize respective information as well as the malware; it was of particular interest to investigate whether the malware infected the respective IT systems,” the Swiss attorney-general’s office in Berne said in a statement.

Criminal proceedings have been opened against unknown persons “on suspicion of political espionage”, it added without elaborating. A spokesman declined to give any further information on the investigation.

Meanwhile, Austrian authorities are investigating reported cyberattacks on venues linked to international talks on Iran’s nuclear program, the government said on Thursday……..

srael, Iran’s arch-enemy and a strong critic of the big powers’ diplomacy with Tehran, on Thursday dismissed as baseless reports that it may have had a connection to the computer virus.

Both Kaspersky and U.S. security company Symantec said the virus shared some programming with previously discovered espionage software called Duqu, which security experts believe to have been developed by Israelis.

Israel, widely believed to be the Middle East’s only nuclear power, has denounced the negotiations with Iran, saying it doubts any agreement arising from the talks will sufficiently restrain the Islamic Republic’s atomic program. http://www.voanews.com/content/austria-investigating-possible-cyberattack-on-iran-nuclear-talks/2816943.html