The new documentary about Stuxnet, 'Zero Days', recounts the largest US enterprise in cyberspace targeting Iran. It was called Nitro Zeus and threatened the infrastructure of a whole country. Here, to mention that Stuxnet could also be used as a weapon in any future war.
Citing unnamed sources from within the NSA and CIA, the film reports that the program Nitro Zeus είχε διεισδύσει σε συστήματα ελέγχου επικοινωνιών, δίκτυα ενέργειας, μεταφορών και χρηματοπιστωτικών συστημάτων, και εξακολουθεί να είναι έτοιμο να «διαταράξει, να υποβαθμίσει και να καταστρέψει" αυτές τις υποδομές αν ξεσπάσει νέος πόλεμος με το Ιράν.
The program is worth millions of dollars and it has run within the NSA. Although Stuxnet was active, it came into force when Israel launched an attack on Iran and immediately afterwards the United States was involved, according to film director Alex Gibney. The film is being screened today in the US.
The Stuxnet worm was discovered in 2010, on infected computers inside an Iranian installation uranium enrichment plant and had damaged the centrifuges for cleaning the ore.
For the more technically trained, the film contains some fascinating interviews with Symantec researchers who devoted their lives to Stuxnet's code-line analysis to understand what he did, how he did, who created it, and what the target was.
The film contains very frightening dialogues among the researchers. When they realized that behind the malware there were governments began to worry about their lives.
Ένα βράδυ της Παρασκευής, ο ερευνητής της Symantec Eric Chien, είπε στον σύντροφό του Liam O Murchu, "δεν είμαι αυτοκτονικός. Αν θα έπρεπε να δούμε νεκρούς την Δευτέρα, δεν θα ήμουν εγώ."
Beyond the technical aspects, the film explores the wider implications of cyber warfare and how there are some rules that govern it. The use of aggressive cyber tactics would have to be authorized by the president, and is the only weapon that requires such authorization except from nuclear missiles.
The government, of course, does not recognize that it has engaged in cyberwarfare with purpose-built weapons in its effort to keep their use under control, Richard Clark says in the film. Clark was a former presidential security adviser to presidents George HW Bush, Bill Clinton and George W. Bush.
Former NSA director and CIA General Michael Hayden said these weapons should be publicly discussed in a mature debate to avoid extensive disasters from their use.
"Αυτά τα όπλα είναι άκρως απόρρητα", αναφέρει στην ταινία.
