Malware not meant for stealing data but for sabotage especially of critical industrial networks. Found lurking in Pakistan systems as well. Given the sophistication of the malware, suspicion is that it has been deployed by a country possibly israel. Once you go from hacking cracking groups stealing data to industrial sabotage, I think you cross the line from cyber crime to cyber terrorism.
Cyber weapon Stuxnet hits China
Stuxnet’s origin and purpose is not fully understood, but experts have raised concerns that the worm appears to be designed to attack systems running critical infrastructure.
This means that in theory attackers could break into computers that control critical systems like nuclear power stations, water supply systems and electrical power grids.
Security researchers have reported finding Stuxnet on Siemens control systems in India, Indonesia, Pakistan and particularly those in nuclear power stations in Iran.
…
Researchers have described Stuxnet as a one-of-a-kind, sophisticated malware backed by a well-funded, highly skilled team, leading to speculation it is backed by a country.
Stuxnet file hints at Israeli link: NY Times
Stuxnet specifically attacks Siemens supervisory control and data acquisition, or SCADA, systems commonly used to manage water supplies, oil rigs, power plants and other industrial facilities.
The self-replicating malware has also been found lurking on Siemens systems in India, Indonesia and Pakistan, but the heaviest infiltration appears to be in Iran, according to researchers.
World’s first ‘cyber superweapon’ attacks China
Stuxnet is feared by experts around the globe as it can break into computers that control machinery at the heart of industry, allowing an attacker to assume control of critical systems like pumps, motors, alarms and valves. It could, technically, make factory boilers explode, destroy gas pipelines or even cause a nuclear plant to malfunction.
The virus targets control systems made by German industrial giant Siemens commonly used to manage water supplies, oil rigs, power plants and other industrial facilities.
Stuxnet brings more new tricks to cyberwar
Interestingly, in mid 2009 in an interview with Israeli news website Ynetnews, Scott Borg, head of the US Cyber Consequences Unit, described exactly this attack scenario in connection with Mossad. Borg stated that someone could infiltrate malware into a uranium enrichment facility to destroy systems, “A contaminated USB stick would be enough.”
MtRtMk 