Spy Virus At Iran’s Nuke Talks Exposed, Does Kaspersky’s Outing Of Israel’s Duqu Virus Threaten The World?

A spy virus at Iran’s nuke talks was apparently exposed by antivirus company Kaspersky Labs, and it is believed that it is a newer version of Israel’s Duqu virus. But since Iran’s nuclear weapons threaten world peace, does the outing also make it harder for intelligence officials to prevent a nuclear catastrophe?

In a related report by the Inquisitr, when an ISIS commander took a selfie the photo allowed the U.S. Air Force to strategically bomb the location within 24 hours. While the story was amusing to hear, some believe that discussing the incident publicly was a mistake that could allow the Islamic State to manipulate the U.S. military.

In a similar manner, the discovery of the new spy virus at Iran’s nuke talks could potentially dry up a valuable source of intelligence. Kaspersky Labs threw back the veil over the Stuxnet virus, a highly sophisticated computer worm reportedly created by a joint venture between the United States and and Israel. The goal of the spy virus was to sabotage Iran’s nuclear program, but its exposure allowed Iran to clean house and prevent any further spying.

Whoever is behind planting the py virus at Iran’s nuke talks, they certainly would have learned a lot based upon the Duqu virus’ capabilities. Kaspersky says Duqu 2.0 was packed with 100 modules, which allow hackers to take over and control computers in a network. The spy virus targeted everything, from hotel surveillance cameras to smartphones and tablets. The spy virus allowed hackers to record audio and video from all electronic sources in addition to stealing documents. It is even claimed the new spy virus could operate hotel elevators and alarm systems.

The new spy virus found at Iran’s nuke talks apparently is derived from both Stuxnet and an older version of the Duqu virus, which was outed in the latter half of 2011. Kaspersky is calling the new version Duqu 2.0 and they claim governments have been attacking them with viruses due to their history of exposing spy viruses.

“We see this battle or arms race emerging and now it involves some kind of confrontation between the security industry and nation-state sponsored spies,” Vitaly Kamluk, a Kaspersky principal security researcher, told Ars Technica. “Bringing this to the next level is a very alarming trend for us because before people and organizations of all kinds could understand that the security solutions they were deploying can protect them. There was kind of an unspoken rule not to attack the security industry. But now we see they are stepping on this territory.”

Kaspersky found the new spy virus at three hotels where Iran’s nuke talks were taking place. The spy virus used a Windows “zero day” exploit to gain entry using one computer, but the hackers already wiped the history after the researchers identified it as the entry point. It is not certain exactly how the computer was infected, but they believe it is possible a booby-trapped Microsoft Office document allowed the spy virus to take over the network.

None of the world governments have claimed responsibility for the incident so far, but Kasperksy believes the spy virus’ code contained false flags which pointed to either China or eastern Europe as the author. The Wall Street Journal interviewed an unnamed, former U.S. intelligence official, who said it was “common for Israel and other countries to target such international gatherings.”

“The only thing that is unusual now is you hear about it,” the official said.

According to the Jerusalem Post, Israel’s Prime Minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, spoke about Israel’s notable absence at Iran’s nuke talks.

“No one from this region, except Iran, is at the negotiating table,” Netanyahu said. “Somebody once said: ‘If you’re not at the table, you’re on the menu.’ The states with the most at stake are not even in the room.”

[Image via Aurich Lawson]