Iran Beefs Up Cyber-Warfare Forces in Wake of US, Israeli Attacks

General Warns Iran Poses a 'Threat' Since Attack

by Jason Ditz, January 18, 2013

Air Force General William Shelton is warning that Iran is becoming a “threat” to the United States in the field of cyber-warfare, saying they have been growing their forces since the 2010 US-Israeli Stuxnet attack.

Stuxnet was a Windows-based computer worm targeting Siemens’ Step 7 industrial devices, initially aimed at Iran, the worm escaped and infected tens of thousands of systems worldwide, harming industry across the world, including in the US.

President Obama was eventually confirmed to have ordered the launching of cyberattacks against Iran as one of his first acts as president, creating a program that gave birth to Stuxnet and other virii. Obama then ordered the program to continue in the wake of Stuxnet’s escape, ordering teams to continue developing more ways to attack.

Much speculation surrounds Iran’s own program, as the US has regularly blamed it when web sites begin to run unexpectedly slow, but has produced no evidence that Iran was actually behind such efforts. With a cyberwar clearly underway against them, however, it is clear they have invested more money in retaliatory capabilities.

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