Global Security, Privacy, & Risk Management

“Flame On!”- New CyberWeapon Discovered in Middle East May 28, 2012

Complementing the post CyberEspionage, researchers have discovered a new cyberweapon.  First there was Stuxnet, then there was Duqu..now there is Flame.  Called by a researcher: “…the most complex piece of malicious software discovered to date…” the recently discovered virus is designed to capture data but can also change computer setting and turn on integrated microphones to record what is being said in the room.  Kapersky labs discovered the virus, dubbed “Flame”,  which has been lurking undetected inside of thousands of computers in the Middle East for as long as 5 years.  According to Kapersky, the countries with the most infections include Iran with the most infections followed by Israel/Palestine area, Syria, and Sudan.  According to Kapersky senior researcher Roel Schouwenberg: “The virus contains about 20 times as much code as Stuxnet, which attacked an Iranian uranium enrichment facility, causing centrifuges to fail. It has about 100 times as much code as a typical virus designed to steal financial information”.  (more…)