







Iran nuclear facilities



II. Mission Success?  Or a Darker Reality?


Computer worm







Sources: CBS [1], [2]

Comments     Threshold


RE: The logic in the article is flawed!
By bh192012 on 3/6/2012 12:56:52 PM , Rating: 2
I think people give too much credit to the dangers of hackers. Mainly things like
Drop a stuxnet on new york that takes out powerplants, and the entire USA dissapears.
Hacking is a very specific endeavour. Like real viruses, they will hit specific systems. Hackers can jack up specific users, specific systems etc. It would be incredibly difficult to somehow hit ALL elcectrical grids in the US. They're not all based on the same software etc. At best they could take out sections at a time.

By Rukkian on 3/6/2012 1:27:42 PM , Rating: 2
Until skynet comes online and takes over all systems!

By TSS on 3/7/2012 6:02:25 PM , Rating: 3
Do you even know what a PLC is? I do, i worked with the damn things on my IT education. I never could understand why.

Because they are mainly used in traffic lights. Our end assignment was programming traffic lights for a 4 way intersection.

So i already know stuxnet could theoretically disable just about every traffic light everywhere. As long as it's hooked up to a central monitoring system or something.

But, as the real use of stuxnet showed, those things are used everywhere. Even all the way to nuclear centrifuges.

Unlike a atom bomb though, once it's built it doesn't require more materials or knowledge to build another. When you fire it, it doesn't blow up - it can be used again and again. Your enemy can pick it apart much more easily then it took you to build it.

I'm giving hackers exactly the right amount of credit. Stuxnet wasn't made by hackers. It was made by a professional contractor. Hackers *can't* make something as sophisticated as that.

It's not dangerous because it'll take alot of effort to program in a new target. It's dangerous because somebody just pulled the trigger on a really, really big gun. And now others will take up arms.....

