Federal Drive

Stuxnet holds appeal as alternative weapon of war

German researcher Ralph Langner says malware, such as the Stuxnet worm that targeted Iran\'s nascent nuclear program, will likely be used by nations and terrori...

Federal News Network Staff

September 13, 2011 10:37 am

< a min read

The Stuxnet worm may be have come and gone, but the idea still has appeal. In fact, malware like Stuxnet will likely be a choice weapon of war, according to German researcher Ralph Langner.

He deconstructed the Stuxnet source code in 2010 after the worm was launched against the Iranian uranium enrichment program. Langner said it set the Iranians back two years and probably cost about $10 million to develop. And nobody died.

A conventional kinetic war, on the other hand, would have cost billions, resulted in thousands of deaths and still only set the program back two years. Langner said the economics of the Stuxnet concept will be irresistible to nations and terrorists alike.

Langner spoke in Washington at a Hewlett-Packard customer conference.

This story is part of Federal News Radio’s daily Cybersecurity Update. For more cybersecurity news, click here.