Stories
Slash Boxes
Comments

SoylentNews is people

The US Tried to 'Stuxnet' North Korea’s Nuclear Program

posted by martyb on Monday June 01 2015, @05:55AM   Printer-friendly
from the Pandora's-Box dept.

AnonTechie writes:

A precision digital weapon reportedly created by the US and Israel to sabotage Iran’s nuclear program had a fraternal twin that was designed to attack North Korea’s nuclear program as well, according to a new report.

The second weapon was crafted at the same time Stuxnet was created and was designed to activate once it encountered Korean-language settings on machines with the right configuration, according to Reuters. But the operation ultimately failed because the attackers were unable to get the weapon onto machines that were running Pyongyang’s nuclear weapons program.

WIRED reported back in 2010 that such an operation against North Korea would be possible in light of the fact that some of the equipment used by the North Koreans to control their centrifuges—the devices used to turn uranium hexafluoride gas into nuclear-bomb-ready fuel—appeared to have come from the same firms that outfitted the Iranian nuclear program.

http://www.wired.com/2015/05/us-tried-stuxnet-north-koreas-nuclear-program/

Related: North Korean Defector Warns that Hackers Could Kill.

Original Submission

 
This discussion has been archived. No new comments can be posted.
The US Tried to 'Stuxnet' North Korea’s Nuclear Program | Log In/Create an Account | Top | 13 comments | Search Discussion
Display Options Threshold/Breakthrough Mark All as Read Mark All as Unread
The Fine Print: The following comments are owned by whoever posted them. We are not responsible for them in any way.

  • (Score: 1, Interesting) by Anonymous Coward on Monday June 01 2015, @06:52AM

    by Anonymous Coward on Monday June 01 2015, @06:52AM (#190582)

    No, they tried to commit an act of war, but didn't succeed.

    To make an analogy: If you send a cruise missile flying to another country, it's an act of war. If you try to do it, but can't get the missile off ground, it isn't.

    Starting Score:    0  points
    Moderation   +1  
       Interesting=1, Total=1
    Extra 'Interesting' Modifier   0  
    Total Score:   1  

  • (Score: 2) by WizardFusion on Monday June 01 2015, @11:19AM

    by WizardFusion (498) on Monday June 01 2015, @11:19AM (#190639) Journal

    While true, and I like your analogy, it's the intent that also counts I think.
    If they intend to start a war, but can't because 'reasons' then it's still something that should be investigated.

  • (Score: 1, Interesting) by Anonymous Coward on Monday June 01 2015, @01:11PM

    by Anonymous Coward on Monday June 01 2015, @01:11PM (#190677)

    Or taking your analogy further: if you try to blow up some crowded place but it turns out that your 'friend' who groomed you and told you it was a good idea and handed you the explosives, was an FBI agent in an entrapment scheme, it isn't terrorism... amirite??? And you should go free, right? Right?

    Damn apologists

  • (Score: 1, Interesting) by Anonymous Coward on Monday June 01 2015, @01:49PM

    by Anonymous Coward on Monday June 01 2015, @01:49PM (#190696)

    In this case, it's more like the missile exploding halfway in mid air, while showing clearly on the foreign nation's radars.

    Either way, an attempted act of aggression sounds like an act of war to me. Intent counts.