Tehran, May 29 (ANI): Computer networks in Iran have been targeted by a cyber espionage virus that is many times more complicated than any malicious software ever seen before, researchers have claimed.
Analysts who have investigated it and the pattern of infection revealed that the new piece of malware is called ‘Flamer or Skywiper’ and might be responsible for recent data loss incidents in Iran.
Crysys Lab, a unit that investigates computer viruses at Budapest University, said that Skywiper was developed by a government agency of a nation state with significant budget and effort, and it may be related to cyber warfare activities, The Telegraph reports.
Although its purpose is to steal information rather than cause physical damage, Flame/Skywiper is said to be a much more complicated piece of malicious software than Stuxnet, the groundbreaking virus designed to cripple Iranian uranium enrichment, the report said.
Eugene Kaspersky, the founder of the Russian anti-virus firm Kaspersky Lab, which has also analysed the virus, noted that “it took them six months to analyze Stuxnet virus, and the new virus is 20 times more complicated”.
Iran’s Computer Emergency Response Team, Maher, issued a statement claiming Skywiper was ‘a close relation’ of Stuxnet, which has itself been linked to Duqu, another complicated information-stealing virus is believed to be the work of state intelligence.
According to the paper, many experts suspect Stuxnet was created by the United States and Israel. (ANI)
Article source: http://in.news.yahoo.com/researchers-expose-worlds-most-complicated-espionage-virus-flame-062245387.html
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