US and Israel developed Flame, says official
Posted: Thu Jun 21, 2012 9:26 am
Jacob Aron, technology reporter
(Image: Kaspersky.com/DPA/Press Association Images)
Mega-malware Flame was indeed created by US and Israeli spies to sabotage Iran's nuclear efforts, according to a report in the The Washington Post. Flame's nation-state origins were suspected ever since its discovery last month, and now an unnamed US intelligence official has confirmed that the virus, along with its partner Stuxnet, is part of a continuing cyber-assault on Iran.
It is now all but certain that the design of Stuxnet - fully sanctioned by President Barack Obama, according to a New York Times report earlier this month, and used to damage the centrifuges in Iran's nuclear plants - was informed by intelligence gathered via Flame, which experts have also confirmed could have been developed only by world-class cryptographers. The Post's source also says that the US National Security Agency, the CIA and Israeli military continue the development of new cyberweapons to this day:
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Mega-malware Flame was indeed created by US and Israeli spies to sabotage Iran's nuclear efforts, according to a report in the The Washington Post. Flame's nation-state origins were suspected ever since its discovery last month, and now an unnamed US intelligence official has confirmed that the virus, along with its partner Stuxnet, is part of a continuing cyber-assault on Iran.
It is now all but certain that the design of Stuxnet - fully sanctioned by President Barack Obama, according to a New York Times report earlier this month, and used to damage the centrifuges in Iran's nuclear plants - was informed by intelligence gathered via Flame, which experts have also confirmed could have been developed only by world-class cryptographers. The Post's source also says that the US National Security Agency, the CIA and Israeli military continue the development of new cyberweapons to this day:
The US and Israel don't always act together though, it seems. Flame was unearthed only after a unilateral Israeli attack on Iranian oil facilities in April, leading Iran to investigate and discover the malware. The Post reports that US officials were "dismayed" at its partner's actions."This is about preparing the battlefield for another type of covert action," said one former high-ranking U.S. intelligence official, who added that Flame and Stuxnet were elements of a broader assault that continues today. "Cyber-collection against the Iranian program is way further down the road than this."