Iran has acknowledged that Flame, what some have called the most sophisticated cyber espionage weapon yet, has infected computers across the country. "Having conducted multiple investigations during the last few months, the Maher center, the Iranian CERTCC, following the continuous research on the targeted attacks of Stuxnet and Duqu since 2010, announces the latest detection of this attack for the very first time," reads the official statement. That all sounds scary, but perhaps, like us, you're not exactly sure what it all means. Cyber-warfare, as far as wars go, is pretty abstract. Let's talk this one out.
Ok, so let's start from the beginning. What does this virus do exactly?
Per the Iranian statement, once it has infected a computer the virus can do the following nefarious things: collect passwords, take screengrabs of important processes or active windows, record sounds happening via Skype or even around the computer, transfer any data it has to control servers, bypass anti malware and other security software, and infect "large scale local networks," meaning, it's far reaching.
How far reaching, exactly?
From most infected to least infected, it has reached Iran, parts of Israel and Palestinian territories, Sudan, Syria, Lebanon, Saudi Arabia and Egypt.
Read more at The Atlantic Wire.
Continuous Monitoring As a Service: A Shift in the Way Government Does Business
Research Report: Powering Continuous Monitoring Through Big Data
Addressing the 3 Biggest BYOD Security Threats
Mobile Apps: New Ways to Connect Government with Citizens
JOIN THE DISCUSSION
By using this service you agree not to post material that is obscene, harassing, defamatory, or otherwise objectionable. Although Nextgov does not monitor comments posted to this site (and has no obligation to), it reserves the right to delete, edit, or move any material that it deems to be in violation of this rule.