Bushehr unaffected by computer virus

27 September 2010

Iranian officials said that the new Bushehr nuclear power plant has not been affected by a sophisticated computer virus, although personal computers of plant staff had been infected, Reuters reported. A senior official with US technology company Symantec noted that 60% of the computers worldwide infected by the so-called Stuxnet worm were in Iran, prompting speculation that the nuclear power plant may have been targeted in an attempt at sabotage or espionage. Some western cyber security companies suggested the attack could only have been conducted "with nation-state support," indicating industrial plants in Iran were the target. The head of the Bushehr plant, Mahmoud Jafari told the official IRNA news agency, "A team is inspecting several computers to remove the malware ... major systems of the plant have not been damaged." He added, "It is expected that the vigilance and skills of Iranian experts would once again thwart the cyber warfare of the enemies." Authorities said Iran had identified some 30,000 Internet addresses infected by the Stuxnet worm, blaming Iran's "foreign enemies for creating the virus."

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