Cyber Terrorism Enters New World With Flame Computer Worm
Cyber terrorism fueled by newly developed cyber weapons is already being used as a new form of warfare. The Stuxnet virus was the first known cyber weapon and several years ago was unleashed against primarily Iran. The purpose of Stuxnet was to attack Iranian centrifuges which were being used to manufacture weapons grade uranium. Certainly the use of Stuxnet to destroy infrastructure of another nation state is an act of war and cyber terrorism. The United States and Israel were widely suspected as the developers of Stuxnet has the sophistication of the cyber weapon would require considerable resources available only to a state actor to develop.
Cyber Terrorism Confirmed as Being Used by US Government
Recent leaks out of the United States government pretty well confirm that the US was the developer of Stuxnet and is therefore engaged in cyber terrorism. Now a much more powerful computer worm has been discovered by Eugene Kaspersky and his researchers at world renowned Kaspersky Lab. The new computer worm has been named Flame and is believed to be powerful enough to bring down computer systems worldwide. The age of cyber terrorism has begun. Cyber terrorism is something new to fear.
Blowback Against US use of Cyber Terrorism Likely to be Severe
Apparently United States government sponsors think that they alone have the resources to develop a Flame like computer worm and unleash cyber terrorism against enemies. The fear of blowback seems to be oddly missing even though the United States economy depends upon computer networks for many of its functions. An effective crippling computer attack upon American computer-based infrastructure would be devastating.
Cyber Terrorism
The electrical distribution system could be taken down, aircraft would cease to fly, ATM machines would not work, traffic lights would become useless, elevators in apartment and office buildings would cease functioning, hospitals could not operate; in short the economy would overnight be brought to its knees.
With Cyber Terrorism Smart People are Being Extremely Stupid
It is difficult to understand how such smart people could think that they are the only smart people in the world who have the ability to develop such computer worms. Computer program development skills are extremely high in such nations as Russia, China, Iran, Romania, the Philippines, South Korea, Pakistan, India and many other nations. It is ridiculous that US developers of such programs are so arrogant that they think the United States can not be attacked by cyber terrorism.
Cyber Terrorism Enters New World With Flame Computer Worm
After his eponymously-named lab discovered Flame, “the most sophisticated cyber weapon yet unleashed,” Eugene Kaspersky believes that the evolving threat of “cyber terrorism” could spell the end of life on Earth as we know it.
Doomsday scenarios are a common occurrence in 2012, but coming from a steely-eyed realist like Eugene Kaspersky, his calls for a global effort to halt emerging cyber threats and cyber terrorism should raise alarm bells. A global Internet blackout and crippling attacks against key infrastructure are among two possible cyber-pandemics he outlined.
“It’s not cyber war, it’s cyber terrorism, and I’m afraid the game is just beginning. Very soon, many countries around the world will know it beyond a shadow of a doubt,” Kaspersky told reporters at a Tel Aviv University cyber security conference. “I’m afraid it will be the end of the world as we know it,” he warned. “I’m scared, believe me.”
His stark warning came soon after researchers at Kaspersky Lab unearthed Flame, possibly the most complex cyber threat ever. While the espionage toolkit infected systems across the Middle East, Iran appears to have been its primary target.
Flame is Complex Tool of Cyber Terrorism
Flame seems to be a continuation of Stuxnet, the revolutionary infrastructure-sabotaging computer worm that made mincemeat of Iran’s uranium enrichment facility at Natanz in 2009-2010.
As Flame is capable of recording audio via a microphone, taking screen shots, turning Bluetooth-enabled computers into beacons to download names and phone numbers from other Bluetooth enabled devices, Kaspersky is certain that a nation-station is behind the cyber espionage virus.
While Kaspersky says that the United States, Britain, India, Israel, China and Russia are among the countries capable of developing such software, which he estimates cost $100 million to develop, he did not limit the threat to these states. “Even those countries that do not yet have the necessary expertise [to create a virus like Flame] can employ engineers or kidnap them, or turn to hackers for help.”
The US is ill prepared to ward off aggressive acts of cyber terrorism.
Like Stuxnet, Flame attacks Windows operating systems. Considering this reality, Kaspersky was emphatic: “Software that manages industrial systems or transportation or power grids or air traffic must be based on secure operating systems. Forget about Microsoft, Linux or Unix.”
Kaspersky believes the evolution from cyber war to cyber terrorism comes from the indiscriminate nature of cyber weapons. Very much like a modern-day Pandora’s Box, Flame and other forms of malware cannot be controlled upon release. Faced with a replicating threat that knows no national boundaries, cyber weapons can take down infrastructure around the world, hurting scores of innocent victims along the way.
Kaspersky believes that it necessary to view cyber weapons with the same seriousness as chemical, biological and even nuclear threats. Mutually assured destruction should exclude them from the arsenals of nation states.
The apocalyptic scenario he painted is fit for the silver screen. No surprise then, that it was a film that converted him to the idea that cyber terrorism was a clear and present danger.
By his own admission, Kaspersky watched the 2007 Film Live Free or Die Hard with a glass of whiskey in one hand and a cigarette in the other shouting: “Why are you telling them [how to do this]?” The film’s plot revolves around an NYPD detective played by Bruce Willis, fighting a gang of cyber terrorists who are targeting FBI computer systems.
“Before Die Hard 4.0, the word cyber terrorism was a taboo in my company. It could not be uttered aloud or discussed with the media. I tried to keep the Pandora’s Box closed. When the film hit the screens, I canceled that ban,” Kaspersky admitted. See cyber terrorism and Flame Malware as described by Wikipedia.
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