A sophisticated virus, reportedly targeting Iran’s nuclear facilities has also affected the personal computers of Iranian officials connected with the nuclear installations.
Officials connected with the Bushehr reactor, including managers and officials from the Iranian Atomic Energy Agency were affected by the so-called Stuxnet worm, which is considered so sophisticated as to be created with the backing of western government.
A team of experts have been tasked with getting rid of the virus, but Mahmoud Jafari, Bushehr’s director, said that the virus "caused no serious damage to major systems" at the nuclear station. Plans to open the light water reactor, built with Russian help, in October are not affected by the virus, according to Jafari. Iran has been accused of creating its nuclear power facilities as a front to disguise the development of nuclear weapons, an accusation denied by Iran.
The design of the destructive malware has
surprised experts as it is the first kind of worm designed to specifically take
over controls of industrial systems, rather than simply destroy, steal or
manipulate data. As such, the US Department Of Homeland Security has been
tracking the worm and is underway building a taskforce to tackle problems of a
similar nature, should they occur at industrial installations in the US
There were reports from Iranian news agencies Saturday that the virus had spread to other areas in Iran, but it was unclear how widespread the infection had become. The question remains just where the virus originated, and if, as suspected, a government agency is behind its creation.
