Iran has total control of its computer networks and the ability to foil cyber attacks by the nation’s enemies, Iranian Minister of Intelligence Heidar Moslehi said yesterday, the state-run Mehr news agency reported.
Authorities have arrested a number of “nuclear spies,” Moslehi said, without providing details, according to the report.
Moslehi spoke days after Iranian officials confirmed that the Stuxnet computer worm had affected its computer systems, including personal computers of employees at the Bushehr nuclear power plant. A worm is a self-replicating piece of malicious software, or malware, that can damage computer systems.
The malware, which has infected industrial computers in several countries, may be part of a campaign to disrupt the operation of nuclear installations in Iran, international computer-security researchers said on Sept. 24. Almost 60 percent of the affected systems are in Iran, according to data from Symantec Corp, a computer--security software maker.
“All of the destructive activities perpetrated by the oppressors in cyberspace will fast be discovered and ways to counter them will be implemented,” Moslehi said, according to Mehr. “The intelligence ministry is aware of a series of activities carried out against the Islamic Republic by enemy spy services.”
Stuxnet’s programming and ability to hide itself suggest it may have been designed by a government-sponsored organization in the US or Israel, said Frank Rieger, the technology chief at GSMK, a manufacturer of encrypted mobile phones.
The UN has imposed sanctions on Iran because of its nuclear program, which the US, Israel and their allies suspect is cover for the development of atomic weapons. Iran rejects the claim and says it needs the technology to generate electricity and provide medical research for its population.
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