Austin Technology Law Blog : Texas Technology Lawyers & Attorneys for Copyright, Trademarks & Software Licensing in Houston, Dallas & Austin TX

OK, now it's serious.  It's one thing to lose credit card information or for your Facebook account to be high jacked, but malware is said to have been instrumental in the cause of death and destruction in the crash of a Spainair flight two years ago.  Investigators have determined that ground computers were infected with malicious code that may have prevented the pilots from being warned that the flaps were in the wrong configuration for takeoff.

This blog has previously discussed the malicious code problem here, here and here.  Experts in virus protection are becoming increasingly pessimistic about the ability of reactive virus protection to be effective.

A video of the crash can be seen here.  Warning, this is unsettling in that it is video of an event where a large number of people lost their lives.

I told you this was serious.

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Cyber security experts are scrambling to assess the past effects and the potential of a recently detected malware that has targeted utility systems primarily in the Middle East (beginning in Iran) and the United States. Microsoft has named the Trojan intruder “Stuxnet”.

On a very basic level, here is what Stuxnet does:
1. So far, it has targeted a Siemens system (SCADA) used primarily in the operation and control of electric power plants;
2. It has been carried on USB sticks that, when attached to a computer, automatically executes without any further action by a user, even if the AutoRun function is disabled;
3. The Trojan then seeks out and copies certain database information, including power plant designs;
4. Stuxnet exploits a flaw in the shortcut links files in Windows.

Microsoft has issued a work around that essentially turns off the shortcut function and changes the shortcut icons appearance on the screen.

So, if this only targets utility companies, unless you are a utility company or have one as a client, why should you care? Experts surmise that this was created to carry out industrial espionage but the same technique can be used for other targets. It could be used to target other trade secrets, personal financial information, medical records, etc.

We talked to a local security expert and there are reports that Stuxnet or variants are “in the wild” and could be delivered by a manner other than USB sticks via networks and remote web servers.

McAfee alleges that it has a defense against Stuxnet as does Symantec. As we noted in earlier posts (see here and here), these are examples of blacklisting. CoreTrace has demonstrated effectiveness against the intruder by using the whitelisting capabilities of its product Bouncer. See the YouTube video here:  http://bit.ly/bFCEdc.

This attack seems to be much more targeted and much more sophisticated that most of the prior threats and may herald a new age of malware menace.

So, it’s a dangerous cyber world out there. Use protection.
 

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