Stuxnet, Fukushima And The Inevitable Cyber ApocalypseBy Dylan Charles Case in point, the Stuxnet computer worm, developed as a joint U.S-Israeli-British cyber weapon, is a set of malicious computer codewhich infects an ubiquitousmodel of programmable logic controllers (PLCs), commonly used around the world in power plants and factories to mechanically control industrial hardware. PLCs can tell a fan when to turn on and off, how much of a chemical to add to a product, or for how long to operate an industrial mixer or cooling system. They are the direct link between the cybernetic and the physical world. Stuxnet was originally designed to seek out and to attack such hardware in Irans Natanz nuclear fuel enrichment facility in order to disable centrifuges, thereby disrupting Irans capacity to produce nuclear weapons, which it did so successfully in 2010. This worm was an unprecedentedly masterful and malicious piece of code that attacked in three phases. First, it targeted Microsoft Windows machines and networks, repeatedly replicating itself. Then it sought out Siemens Step7 software, which is also Windows-based and used to program industrial control systems that operate equipment, such as centrifuges. Finally, it compromised the programmable logic controllers. [Source] The attack on Natanz was a covert and illegal act of force, and part of spectrum of tactics employed at that time against Irans nuclear bomb making ambitions, including the assassinations of top Iranian nuclear scientists, attacks on Iranian pipelines, an international propaganda campaign, andpressure from the International Atomic Energy Agency. Stuxnet is uncommonly dangerousin the world of malware, and to the digital detectives who discovered it and the analysts tasked with figuring out what it was, who made it, and what it could do, it was their worst-case scenario, something they had hoped they would never actually see unleashed unto the world. I wouldnt call it amazement, it was kind of a shock. It went beyond our worst fears, our worst nightmares, and this continued the more we analyzed. The more we researched, the more bizarre the whole story got. It was evident at a very early stage that just given the sophistication of this malware suggested that there must have been a nation-state involved. At least one nation-state involved in the development. ~Ralph Langer, Control Systems Security Consultant, Zero Days Here is a piece of software that should only exist in the cyber realm and it is able to affect physical equipment in a plant or factory and cause physical damage. ~Eric Chien, Semantec Security Response Team, Zero Days Real world physical destruction. At that time things became very scary to us. Here you had malware potentially killing people, and that was something that was always Hollywoodesque to us. ~Liam OMurchu,Semantec Security Response Team, Zero Days Two years after Stuxnet disrupted Irans nuclear program, CBS News did a segment on it, interviewing former head of the NSA and former director of the CIA, Retired General Michael Hayden, would say very little about it, except to warn us of the significance that Stuxnet will have on the future of warfare, representing a startling escalation into an entirely new battlefield. This was a good idea. All right. I also admit, this was a really big idea, too. The rest of the world was looking at this and saying, clearly someone has legitimated thiskind of activity as acceptable in international conduct. The whole world was watching. ~General Michael Hayden, Retired One of the most startling aspects of Stuxnet isthat it employs what is known as a zero day code, a rare capacity which allowsthe worm to spread and function without the user having to do anything, such as download files or accidentally launch a program. In this way the worm is autonomous once released, always quietlycrawling the world advancing toward its target. This combined with the fact that it attacks PLCs which are used all over the world in civilian infrastructure, including nuclear power plants, is extraordinarily dangerous as it opens the door to a new type of accidental warfare. In the 2016 film Zero Days, an NSA source remarks on the importance and origins of Stuxnet. Her comment is to be taken as a warning that the government has released something into the world that they cannot control, that cannot be put bag in the bag, that will only evolve and further advancements in malware. I was in NSA. I believe in the agency so what Im willing to give you will be limited but were talking because everyones getting the story wrong and we have to get it right. We have to understand these new weapons, the stakes are too high. We did Stuxnet. Its a fact. We came so fucking close to disaster and were still on the edge. It was a huge, multi-national, inter-agency operation. ~NSA Source, Zero Days Although we most likely will never find confirmation, some analysts speculate that Stuxnet was involved in the Fukushima Daiichinuclear meltdown which occurred on 3/11/2011. Evidence for this includes the fact all layers of the power plants cooling systems failed, even systems designed to withstand major earthquakes and severe floods.Furthermore, some claim that Stuxnet was found in Japan just prior to the catastrophe, placing it near the scene of the crime. The unfortunate truth is that we will never know the full details, largely because the Japanese government and TEPCO, the energy agency that operates the plant, are more concerned with stopping information leakage about the disaster and cleanup effort than they are about stopping the leakage of radioactive material. Nevertheless, Fukushima serves as a shocking blueprint for the coming cyber apocalypse. A target-nations critical infrastructure mysteriously goes offline in spite of multiple layers of failsafes and backups, resulting in catastrophic, widespread damage and disruption in densely populated areas. Potentially, as is in the case of nuclear reactors, causing permanent ecological devastation and the indefinite dislocation of millions of people. We have entered into a new phase of conflict in which we use a cyber weapon to create physical destruction, and in this case, physical destruction in someone elses critical infrastructure. ~ U.S. General Michael Hayden, Retired Cyber warfare is the fourth dimension of military conflict beyond land, sea and air. Cyber weaponsoffers unlimited range, super high-speed, and extremely low detectability, and as we push further and further into the realms of artificial intelligence, we move closer to a scenario where technology can evolve on its own, beyondits destructive genealogy. Skynet, as it is called in Terminator. It is almosthere. In 2016 a massive cyber attack on the Internet brought down major news, e-commerce, and social media sites for many hours by using home appliances and televisions as a distributed network of cyber-attackers. Now analysts predict the Internet will be brought down completely for at least a short period of time within the coming year or so. An apocalyptic prospect for commerce, finance and infrastructure. Meanwhile, the Pentagon continues to push the envelope in robotic and autonomous weapons of war. There is no way to fully understand the implications and consequences of an artificially intelligent cyber conflict. There is no path to disarmament of this kind of threat, and if thecutting edge of technological development continues to be occupied by the military industrial mindset, then the human race doesnt stand a chance. Is this really our future? Read more articles by Dylan Charles. Dylan Charlesis a student and teacher of Shaolin Kung Fu, Tai Chi and Qi Gong, a practitioner of Yoga and Taoist arts, and an activist and idealist passionately engaged in the struggle for a more sustainable and just world for future generations. He is the editor ofWakingTimes.com, the proprietor ofOffgridOutpost.com, a grateful father and a man who seeks to enlighten others with the power of inspiring information and action. He may be contacted atwakingtimes@gmail.com. Like Waking Times on Facebook. Follow Waking Times on Twitter. 400 km of japans coast lines and 10 km inland was washed away but you think a cyber attack was the cause of failure at the nuke plant means your hopelessly stupid or a pro nuke PR Firms . The reactors could not get power to pump water the pumps where destroyed and they need a million gallons a min to stay cool , every hour they rise by 50 degrees so after 18 hrs they have a meltdown . The noble gasses only need air mixture to detonate and they did , the reactors where blown 3 miles strait up . Yet you think it was a computer virus even though 400 km of the coast line is ripped away should raise serious questions about your competency for activist post editors and readers . Dana Durnford aka TheNuclearProctologist I think that they are implying that a man-made mega quake was caused off of the Japanese coast and when the plants normal safety mechanisms that shut down the reactors during a quake should have kicked in, they did not because they were sabotaged by the malware. According to the conspiracy theory, Japan was helping Iran in some way with their nuclear program, and US/Israeli intelligence agencies caught wind of it. I ran the theory by a politically savvy Taiwanese, and he said that the story might just be propaganda by the Japanese government so that they do not take blame for the accident. If the conspiracy theory is correct, that was a ginormously stupid thing to do since that contamination will impact everybody. It does, however, line up with a prophecy about a group of great nations coming against modern-day Babylon the Great (Jeremiah 50:9). Some of Americas allies may not be friendlies after all. Way to go guys, releasing this virus on the world.brilliant move and of course it knows the difference between the good guys and bad.. yes? 