Jacob Aron, technology reporter
(Image: Kaspersky.com/DPA/Press Association Images)
Mega-malware Flame was indeed created by US and Israeli spies to sabotage Iran's nuclear efforts, according to a report in the The Washington Post. Flame's nation-state origins were suspected ever since its discovery last month, and now an unnamed US intelligence official has confirmed that the virus, along with its partner Stuxnet, is part of a continuing cyber-assault on Iran.
It is now all but certain that the design of Stuxnet - fully sanctioned by President Barack Obama, according to a New York Times report earlier this month, and used to damage the centrifuges in Iran's nuclear plants - was informed by intelligence gathered via Flame, which experts have also confirmed could have been developed only by world-class cryptographers. The Post's source also says that the US National Security Agency, the CIA and Israeli military continue the development of new cyberweapons to this day:
"This is about preparing the battlefield for another type of covert action," said one former high-ranking U.S. intelligence official, who added that Flame and Stuxnet were elements of a broader assault that continues today. "Cyber-collection against the Iranian program is way further down the road than this."
The US and Israel don't always act together though, it seems. Flame was unearthed only after a unilateral Israeli attack on Iranian oil facilities in April, leading Iran to investigate and discover the malware. The Post reports that US officials were "dismayed" at its partner's actions.
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