Every day we hear about viruses, or worms taking down large corporations. Most of these viruses are created by regular people like you or me. They are so common, and most of them so badly written that many protection softwares are available to shut them down before they even get the chance to do any real damage.
However, some viruses have struck corporations and companies in such a way that they have lost millions of dollars in the attack. But not all viruses are created equal, while some spread like wild fire through videos, e-mails, links, malware, Trojans, etcetera. Some are actually created to destroy, damage, or spy on computers. Many of these viruses remain hidden on a global scale for months, sometimes even years before they are detected.
The Stuxnet Virus is one of those “weapons”, it’s an extremely sophisticated virus that has infected sensitive places around the world. While most viruses take down Corporations, Stuxnet has the ability to take down Nations. The special thing about Stuxnet is its ability to infiltrate networks without the users knowing it’s even there. And then, damaging the network while tricking the administrators that everything is okay. Stuxnet has infiltrated intricate systems of nuclear power plants, traffic lights, oil rigs, and other structures belonging to government agencies. The virus, unlike the other viruses, has one set of instructions, to stay calm and sit dormant until it detects a threat, and then, shut the threat down.
The video at the bottom of the article was created by Patrick Clair, and it is a compilation of the things people have said about the Stuxnet Virus. What makes matters worse is that this virus is readily available online for anyone to download and re-modify, recode, and instructed to do different actions. There are videos around Youtube talking about Stuxnet, and videos of people playing around with the code. Now the one thing that you need to remember is that this code is found inside Traffic relays and even nuclear facilities, all it needs is for a hacker to modify it just right and we’ll have a catastrophe that will make Chernobyl seem like a spill on isle five.
Stuxnet: Anatomy of a Computer Virus from Patrick Clair on Vimeo.
Via: Bitrebels
