The Middle East fights the Flame, but virus spreads anyway
(Read article summary)Flame virus has infected more than 1,000 Windows-powered computers across the Middle East, according to reports.
Iranian IT workers just can't catch a break.
Two years ago there was Stuxnet, a virus that targeted Iranian uranium-enrichment infrastructure. Now Flame, a mutating piece of malware, is continuing to spread, infecting more than 1,000 Windows-powered computers across the Middle East. It's centered on Iran, but has also spread to Israel and Palestine, Saudi Arabia, Syria, and even Sudan.
Although Flame was first discovered about two weeks ago, it's still not clear who is behind the software. Last week the New York Times quoted an Iranian cyberdefense official who said the virus's encryption looked like Israel's handiwork. Kaspersky Lab, a Russian antivirus company, said Flame might have been created by the same contractors who were responsible for Stuxnet, working with a different team of programmers. Flame is a targeted virus, just as Stuxnet was, but while the latter was aimed at industrial control systems, Flame doesn't appear to be targeting any particular industry or system -- just Windows PCs in the Middle East.
