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The Stuxnet worm may be the most sophisticated software ever written

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Re: The Stuxnet worm may be the most sophisticated software ever written

#31

Post by lol-lol »

I would argue that this one was more sophisticated: http://pferrie.tripod.com/papers/zmist.pdf

What I am seeing lately with malware is increasing decline in sophistication, today malware is lame compared to the malware created around 2000. I would think that level of low level knowledge is rapidly dropping. When there were still real file infectors, there were some serious nasty technologies involved (btw, todays ransomware is a very old concept (http://virus.wikidot.com/onehalf) but it was used to prevent virus removal instead of making money).

Re: The Stuxnet worm may be the most sophisticated software ever written

#32

Post by giancarlostoro »

saagarjha wrote: post #17

> This driver was digitally signed by Realtek > that driver started signing it with secret keys from JMicron I think this is the scariest part of the worm. Not only do the people writing it have access to zero-days, they also somehow have (possibly physical) access to the private keys of two large corporations.

Both from Taiwan I see. So if the parties involved have some pull with their government it could be that. They also could of: bought them, cracked them or as you said stolen them.

Re: The Stuxnet worm may be the most sophisticated software ever written

#33

Post by mikejb »

gadders wrote: post #16
cerebrum wrote: post #7

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Considering that Israel is the nation always mongering war against Iran I second you.

Well, to be fair, Iran is trying to build a nuclear weapon and wants to wipe out Israel.

Every time someone brings up "wants to wipe out xyz", I wonder how that would play out. North Korea wants to nuke the US and SK, Iran wants to nuke Israel, Pakistan wants to nuke India, etc. But playing the scenario in your head leaves to a simple conclusion: If either NK or Iran would deploy nukes, it would be their end. It is likely that the US will remain the only nation on this planet who dropped nukes on civilians.

Re: The Stuxnet worm may be the most sophisticated software ever written

#34

Post by xroche »

sneak wrote: post #22
dboreham wrote: post #20

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Interesting. This is the first time I've seen a public comment anywhere about a strong suspicion I've held for more than 20 years.

It seems obvious to me. Want to illegally snoop on someone’s iMessages? Don’t compromise Tim Cook’s plausible deniability, just get an asset to climb the ladder until they can touch the systems that send the list of keys to the target device. Same goes for signing malware binaries for evil maid against iOS devices, chromebooks, et c. There are controls you can put in place as an organization to make this harder, but…

> “Keep this quiet or go to the same jail in which Manning was tortured basically to death” is a pretty persuasive argument.

You don't even have to speak about it. Not cooperate, and you'll go to jail.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/the-switch/wp/2013/09/30...

Re: The Stuxnet worm may be the most sophisticated software ever written

#35

Post by Fifer82 »

danielh wrote: post #9

If this short read piked your interest in Stuxnet, I can recommend the book "Countdown to Zero Day: Stuxnet and the Launch of the World's First Digital Weapon". It explains in great detail how Stuxnet worked and, which I found the most exciting, how it was discovered and reverse engineered.

Thanks, I always enjoy HN recommendations for books. Even better there is an Audio Book version!

Re: The Stuxnet worm may be the most sophisticated software ever written

#36

Post by [deleted] »

sneak wrote: post #22
dboreham wrote: post #20

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Interesting. This is the first time I've seen a public comment anywhere about a strong suspicion I've held for more than 20 years.

It seems obvious to me. Want to illegally snoop on someone’s iMessages? Don’t compromise Tim Cook’s plausible deniability, just get an asset to climb the ladder until they can touch the systems that send the list of keys to the target device. Same goes for signing malware binaries for evil maid against iOS devices, chromebooks, et c. There are controls you can put in place as an organization to make this harder, but…

[deleted]

Re: The Stuxnet worm may be the most sophisticated software ever written

#37

Post by Tepix »

bflesch wrote: post #23

Would it have been easier or harder to implement Stuxnet if the target networks were running some sort of linux? Or if it would've been a mac-only facility? I'm curious.

Short version: Some things would be easier, others harder.

Re: The Stuxnet worm may be the most sophisticated software ever written

#38

Post by Piskvorrr »

bflesch wrote: post #23

Would it have been easier or harder to implement Stuxnet if the target networks were running some sort of linux? Or if it would've been a mac-only facility? I'm curious.

Smaller platforms (which Linux and Mac OS are, compared to Windows) draw less interest (both in exploits and scrutiny against exploits), and fragmented platforms (Linux) are harder to code for (SystemV? systemd? something else entirely?). I guess that it would have required more effort - but at this level of involvement, I would say that the result would have been achieved regardless.
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