Prepper Recon

Weaponizing the Computer Virus

The Stuxnet computer virus brought virtual warfare from the back channels to the front line and the front page. The attack on Iranian nuclear facilities showcased what is possible in the arena of a computer virus. Stuxnet moved from computer to computer on thumb drives and stayed dormant until it found the specific machine it was manufactured to attack. When it found its target, it caused the nuclear centrifuges to spin faster than they were designed to spin. This damaged them and temporarily halted Iran’s nuclear ambitions.

The Stuxnet virus was speculated to have been developed by the US Government. A leak from an anonymous official confirmed those suspicions last June. While Iran may have known the US was to blame, this confirmation buys them a lot of political capital with their allies such as China and Russia.

Former head of the N.S.A., Michael Hayden said in the following CBS interview that in the case of a physical weapon, it destroys itself. He goes on to explain that this is not the case with a computer virus. The evidence is left in the data to be analyzed by the victim of the attacks. That data can then be reverse engineered and turned against enemies of the state that was attacked.

For a terrorist supporting state like Iran to have the source codes of such a computer virus, presents endless possibilities for them to express their hatred for the West. They could launch cyber attacks against critical infrastructure such as water plants, electrical grids or nuclear power plants. The computer virus could be used to infiltrate military installations or government agencies.

The most recent reuse of  Stuxnet has now been identified in the Lebanese banking system.  The new strain of  Stuxnet-like  computer virus is called Gauss. We know very little about this virus or what its purpose is other than it has infected more than 10,000 computers. An infection in the American banking system of this nature has the potential to bring us to our knees. Imagine for a moment, no paychecks issued, credit card machines down indefinitely, the only cash you have access to is what you had in your house or pocket before the attack. Commerce would halt and panic would envelop the streets in a matter of hours.

I am sure we will hear more about the Gauss virus and others that are derived from Stuxnet in the future. All I can say is, be prepared .

Happy prepping!