Experts believe that the US or Israel may be planning ahead for physical warfare

Feb 21, 2012 07:55 GMT  ·  By

It turns out that Stuxnet, the piece of malware allegedly developed to target Iranian nuclear facilities, may have had a little help from some western countries.

A recent report reveals that Iran was sanctioned by international organizations and banned from obtaining anti-virus software, this leading to the infection of 16,000 computing devices.

According to Israel National News, a deputy intelligence chief said that Iran was being forced to create its own protection software due to the ban imposed by international parties.

There has been a lot of debate on the origins and purpose of Stuxnet, at the end of 2011, a US cyber defense analyst claiming that Israel and the United States are not the ones behind the malicious worm as initially believed; Russia may instead be its creator.

Other research, performed by Kaspersky experts, indicates that Stuxnet, Duqu and other pieces of malware may have been developed by the same team, using a platform called Tilded.

Now, experts believe that this latest strategy is designed to ensure that Teheran’s nuclear weaponry is undermined, perhaps in preparation for a physical war that may be launched against Iran by the US or Israel.

On the other hand, Iranian cyber experts don't seem too worried about cyber threats.

FARS News informs that a senior Iranian civil defense official highlighted the need for a sound cyber defense strategy, but he also stated that local experts and engineers are capable of countering cyberattacks.

Of course, this refers especially to the attacks that may target one of Iran’s most precious assets: its nuclear facilities and installations.

“Iranian experts enjoy the necessary know-how to counter cyber threats. Many viruses are produced worldwide everyday, which are monitored by (Iran's) cyber defense headquarters. So far the viruses have left no destructive impact on the country,” Head of Iran's civil defense organization, General Gholam Reza Jalali said.