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NEWS > EVERYONE ELSE > STUXNET WORM STILL IN HIDING; WORLD DOMINATION POSSIBLE
STUXNET WORM STILL IN HIDING; WORLD DOMINATION POSSIBLE
January 24 2011
Tehran, Iran – Like many secretive operations involving multiple world governments, it is unlikely that we will ever know the full truth behind the now notorious Stuxnet virus which last summer crippled the Iranian nuclear program. Recent reports have 
shown the likelihood of involvement from external governments, most likely Israel in the United States, are likely only the very surface of the depth of the cyber attack which most experts predict put the Iranian nuclear program back at least two years, showing clearly that cyber warfare is very much a major tool in the modern world.
Whatever entity actually created and unleashed the Stuxnet virus the results are what are truly important, at least for the time being. The disabling of the Iranian nuclear program calmed nerves, and guns, in Israel delaying at least what very well could have been the first nuclear war in human history. The short term gain, however, may still have long term consequences now that the computer virus genie has been freed from its bottle. While establishing this as a new tool for resolving conflicts is most certainly potent, it could very well be Stuxnet itself which may present to most omnipresent threat to global security as it continues to hibernate and wind its way through computer systems, waiting for the next opportunity to strike, possibly next time with its own agenda in mind.
“Stuxnet is an impressive tool that was able to thoroughly shut down thousands of 
machines and do it in a very specific way. It assaulted specific devices and was able to effectively disrupt their ability to function but did little damage to unrelated devices. That speaks to a very sophisticated virus that, frankly, is likely not done,” said a security expert who preferred to remain anonymous. “There is no way to assume that the virus has been wiped from these machines, the truth is they are still not up and running after six months and that alone indicates how deeply they have been infected. The best solution would be to toss those machines and start again but that isn’t going to happen.”
Approximately 60,000 machines in Iran were infected as well as thousands owned by entities which have been helping with the Iranian nuclear program.
“The reality is that this is a very sophisticated virus that could stay in these machines 
forever, laying in wait for another assault. Like all weapons, it’s likely this virus will provide unforeseen consequences which could very well include a kind of sentience, a mind of its own,” continued the expert. “That is an extreme scenario but the more sophisticated a virus becomes, the more likely that it will be out of our control. That it will twist and turn in ways that we could never predict. This virus wasn’t a simple phishing program, it is an evolutionary leap forward in virus development and that could mean frightening things if it continues to evolve and doesn’t have basic human compassion, which is likely. That usually isn’t something that is built into malware.”
Iranian officials have routinely stated that their systems have been cleaned, but they are still offline.
“I think it’s unlikely that this virus will gain independence, that it will evolve to the point of having a mind of its own but it is entirely possible. I mean we see that frequently in movies and television and so it is at least theoretically possible,” said Scrape TV Technology analyst Ken Kevins. “If that does happen there is no reason to assume that the virus will favour the west, or anyone for that matter. It could see all of humanity as its enemy, enslaving as we do all these other viruses and computers. I think if it does become aware, we are all potentially in trouble. Hopefully that doesn’t happen.”
Thus far no computer viruses have become self aware, we think.
Emil Uliya, International Correspondent
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