Stuxnet and Flame Indicate The Face of 21st Century Cyber Warfare
Infographic from Veracode reveals Stuxnet has become the blue print for today’s cyber weapons
According to Veracode, Inc., the leader in cloud-based application security testing, the impact of the Stuxnet worm has highlighted how owners and operators of critical infrastructure are on the front line in the battle to keep their systems secure. With recent information suggesting that the teams responsible for the Flame and Stuxnet cyber-attacks collaborated in the early stages of development, the framework of Stuxnet may have become the blueprint for the next big cyber weapon.
This is illustrated in Veracode’s most recent infographic released today, entitled “The New Face of 21st Century Cyber Warfare.” With a detailed outline of the history of Stuxnet and the future implications of the framework being replicated, enterprises will gain a greater awareness of the impact that sophisticated cyber-attacks can have.
“Stuxnet and subsequent attempts to penetrate US critical infrastructure networks demonstrate that this problem is no longer theoretical,” said Richard A. Clarke, Former Special Advisor to the President on Cyberspace Security and Board member of Veracode.
Risks from worms and viruses to denial-of-service attacks and targeted exploitation have increased significantly. With critical infrastructure companies increasingly adopting software applications and networked computing to perform essential functions, now even infrastructure that is isolated by design is vulnerable.
“This infographic clearly shows that traditional security is no longer effective in isolation. Attacks like Flame – the most sophisticated cyber spying program ever discovered – and Duqu show that the face of cyber attacks has escalated to a new level,” said Chris Wysopal, CTO, Veracode. “This, coupled with the growing complexities of applications, can create unintended vulnerabilities in systems that can compromise the confidentiality, integrity, and availability of critical infrastructure resources.”
The Stuxnet virus, which was originally created in 2006 by the US and Israel to slow Iran’s nuclear efforts, infected 130,000 computers globally in the summer of 2010. It reportedly damaged industrial control systems after being introduced through an infected thumb drive that bridged the air gap and propagated through the local area network.
“The New Face of 21st Century Cyber Warfare” infographic is available for download from the Veracode site: http://www.veracode.com/blog/2012/08/stuxnet-the-new-face-of-21st-century-warfare-infographic, as well as a report about Confronting Cyber Risk in Critical Infrastructure. Interested parties have permission to embed and share the infographic on their websites or blogs with attribution.
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