As the story goes, the stuxnet worm was designed and released by a governmentthe u. The stuxnet worm was the first known example of a digital weapon developed by the. A fascinating book about the worlds first digital weapon, the stuxnet worm, designed to sabotage irans nuclear program. The worm, having infiltrated these machines, began to continually replicate itself.
Stuxnet, digital weapons, and countdown to zero day. Its rather obviously a date, but instead of looking at the gazillion. Stuxnet could spread stealthily between computers running windowseven those not connected to the internet. Zetter simple kabbalah, a senior writer for wired magazine, details how a series of clues led a small but intrepid group of computer security specialists from around the world to discover stuxnet, the worlds first zeroday exploit, a virus without a patch.
Ive only read it once it was such a workout that i feel i need to be ready to face it again. On the whole, however, the story is fascinating and kim zetter does a great job telling it. The us political and military background was at times a bit too long and detailed, otherwise it would have gotten 5. Aug 23, 2018 kim zetter, an unprecedented look at stuxnet, the worlds first digital weapon, wired, november 3, 2014. An unprecedented look at stuxnet, the worlds first.
Stuxnet computer code designed to infect industrial plants created by wellfunded hackers, says symantec corp expert published. An account of the stuxnet attack excerpted from the authors book on the same subject 2,100 words multimedia. Stuxnet virus might have improved irans nuclear capabilities. The stuxnet worm first emerged during the summer of 2010. Stuxnet and the launch of the worlds first digital weapon its a new book by cybersecurity journalist kim zetter, and shows how, in her words, a digital attack can have the same destructive capability as a megaton bomb. At times it is easy to get lost in all the acronyms and technical jargon, but she does a nice job of stringing readers along for a big payoff. Ebook excerpt sandworm is much more than a truelife technothriller. Not just kings greatest book but a great american novel, period.
She takes us inside todays flourishing zeroday grey markets, in which intelligence agencies and militaries pay huge sums for the malicious code they need to carry out infiltrations and attacks. Michael barbaro, what facebook knew and tried to hide, in the daily blog, new york times, november 16, 2018. Top cybersecurity journalist kim zetter tells the story behind the virus that sabotaged irans nuclear efforts and shows how its existence has ushered in a new age of warfareone in which a digital attack can have the same destructive capability as a megaton bomb. Click any of the links below to read an excerpt from that book. The worm then propagates across the network, scanning for siemens step7 software on computers controlling a plc. Once a centrifuge physically disintegrates at 75,000 rpm, there is no way to restore it from backup. Stuxnet s discovery by the world wide, antivirus techie community, the governmental development of the malware exploit and its progeny stuxnet, duqu, flame, etc. In the absence of either criterion, stuxnet becomes dormant inside the computer. Discovered in 2010, it had already destroyed several nuclear centrifuges. If a worker stuck a usb thumb drive into an infected machine, stuxnet could, well. Stuxnet is typically introduced to the target environment via an infected usb flash drive. If youre interested in learning more about stuxnet and cyber warfare, check out countdown to zero day. Stuxnet is a malicious computer worm, first uncovered in 2010, thought to have been in development since at least 2005. An excerpt from her book begins, its june 2009 a year or so since stuxnet was first released, but still a year before the covert operation will be discovered and exposed.
Now, veteran computer security reporter kim zetter has an actionpacked book about it. In an excerpt from her new book, countdown to zero day, wired s kim zetter describes the dark path the worlds first digital weapon took to reach its target in iran. Palestinian rams car into east jerusalem train station, is shot dead by. But countdown to zero day ranges far beyond stuxnet itself. This book is an examination of stuxnet and related tools such as duqu and flame. Kim zetter, an unprecedented look at stuxnet, the worlds first digital weapon, wired, november 3, 2014. Stuxnets discovery by the world wide, antivirus techie community, the governmental development of the malware exploit and its progeny stuxnet, duqu, flame, etc. In her new book, countdown to zero day, zetter discusses the new ways countries can use digital weapons against each other and the emerging role of criminal hackers.
A book on the discovery of stuxnet bedrock automation. Kim zetter is an awardwinning journalist who covers cybercrime, civil liberties, privacy, and security for wired. The realistic portrayals of researching, developing, and ultimately defending the internet from a malicious zeroday attack will appeal to every corner of the it community. The stuxnet worm was the first known example of a digital weapon developed by the u. In this excerpt from the book, which will be released november 11, stuxnet has already been at work silently sabotaging centrifuges at the. She takes us inside todays flourishing zeroday grey markets, in which intelligence agencies and militaries pay huge sums for the malicious code they. In brief, the stuxnet virus was a cyber attack hatched somewhere between washington and tel aviv with the singleminded purpose of throwing a digital spanner into the development of irans nuclear programme. In that capacity it is detailed and exhaustiveperhaps to a fault. For stuxnet, as it came to be known, was unlike any other virus. An unprecedented look at stuxnet, the worlds first digital.
Speculation abounds about the worm, ostensibly designed to disrupt power grids and other such industrial facilities. Stuxnet and the launch of the worlds first digital weapon. Oct 06, 2010 stuxnet also sets a registry value of 19790509 to alert new copies of stuxnet that the computer has already been infected. Wired released an excerpt from the book, countdown to zero day. Apr 02, 2015 stuxnet is credited with destroying 1,0002,000 uranium gas centrifuges. The reality of cyber warfare cyberculture and digital media. Sep 01, 2015 kim zetter s countdown to zero day has three parts. Joe ochman top cybersecurity journalist kim zetter tells the story behind the virus that sabotaged irans nuclear efforts and shows how its existence has ushered in a new age of warfareone in which a digital. The inside story of how stuxnet was discovered gizmodo. How a digital bomb shut down irans nuclear program. Countdown to zero day, a new book by wired journalist kim zetter, is a whodunnit for the internet age. Jul 20, 2012 unlike stuxnet and duqu, which store configuration data in a simple binary file, flame employs a more sophisticated kind of storage which isnt straightforward to parse.
May 16, 20 the stuxnet computer virus attacked iran in a series of digital attacks in 2009 and 2010, and it was believed at the time that a number of centrifuges used to enrich uranium at irans facility. This book constitutes the refereed proceedings of the 8th international conference on decision and game theory for security, gamesec 2017, held in vienna, austria, in october 2017. Nsa input turned stealth weapon into internetroaming spyware a new book by kim zetter, titled countdown to zero day, contains extensive interviews with kaspersky staff regarding the stuxnet infection and previously unreleased technical information regarding the attack. Stuxnet and the launch of the worlds first digital weapon book online at best prices in india on. In this excerpt from the book, which will be released november 11, stuxnet has already been at work silently sabotaging centrifuges at the natanz plant for about a year. First, it analyzed and targeted windows networks and computer systems.
If, like me, you need a refresher, this compelling and timely book by kim zetter is the perfect catchup guide. She was among the first journalists to cover stuxnet after its discovery and has authored many of the most comprehensive articles about it. In the absence of either criterion, stuxnet becomes dormant inside the. Stuxnet, which was discovered in june 2010, sabotaged irans. Its a tour through a realm that is both invisible and critical to the daily lives of every person alive in the 21st century. Countdown to zero day kim zetter 9780770436179 netgalley. The true story of the computer worm that took down a. The us political and military background was at times a bit too long and detailed, otherwise it would have gotten 5 stars. Nov 10, 2014 stuxnet is a computer worm that was discovered in 2010 and was used against irans uranium enrichment program. Nov 12, 2014 november 12, 2014 robert bergman in her new book, author kim zetter digs into the discovery of stuxnet, a computer worm discovered in 2010. As iran prepares for its presidential elections, the attackers behind stuxnet are also preparing for their next assault on the enrichment plantwith a new version. Cyberspace and cybersecurity reading list world101. An arab terrorist, affiliated with hamas, plowed his vehicle into a crowd of people at a light rail station along the seamline between east and west jerusalem late wednesday morning, killing one border police officer, and injuring 14 more.
This story of the virus that destroyed irans nuclear centrifuges, by top cybersecurity journalist kim zetter, shows that the door has been opened on a new age of warfareone in which a digital attack can have the same destructive capability as a megaton bomb dropped from an airplane. Nov 11, 2014 zetter has covered hackers and computer security since the prey2k days, and she was one of the first reporters on the stuxnet beat. Wireds cyber security reporter kim zetter joins us to talk about stuxnet the computer worm used to sabotage irans uranium enrichment program. The excerpt attempts to explain the complicated and frustrating reality that stuxnet exists. Use features like bookmarks, note taking and highlighting while reading countdown to zero day. It tells the true tale of how a complicated virus, which later came to be known as stuxnet. November 12, 2014 robert bergman in her new book, author kim zetter digs into the discovery of stuxnet, a computer worm discovered in 2010. In these pages, journalist kim zetter tells the whole story behind the worlds first cyberweapon, covering its genesis in the corridors of the white house and its effects in iranand telling the spectacular, unlikely tale of the security geeks who managed to unravel a top secret sabotage campaign years in the making. Zetter has covered hackers and computer security since the prey2k days, and she was one of the first reporters on the stuxnet beat. Stuxnet and the launch of the worlds first digital weapon kindle edition by zetter, kim. In june 2012, two years after the initial discovery of the stuxnet worm, 1 an excerpt from david sangers then soon to be released book entitled confront and conceal was published in the new york times. Her book, out this thursday, unravels that story, drawing on.
Stuxnet, digital weapons, and countdown to zero day marketplace. Stuxnet is credited with destroying 1,0002,000 uranium gas centrifuges. Download it once and read it on your kindle device, pc, phones or tablets. Excerpt definition is a passage as from a book or musical composition selected, performed, or copied. Nov 11, 2014 but countdown to zero day ranges far beyond stuxnet itself. Stuxnet and the launch of the worlds first digital weapon by wireds senior staff writer kim zetter, and after reading, it seems clear that this story is bound for a movie theater at some point its a good mix of political intrigue, the 2009 iranian green movement along with the technical nerdery of how. Stuxnet targets supervisory control and data acquisition systems and is believed to be responsible for causing substantial damage to the nuclear program of iran. Here, zetter shows us how digital warfare developed in the us. Kim zetters book on stuxnet sheds light on esoteric areas like malware analysis, process automation, and cyber war.
Read book excerpts while we prefer feeling the pages in our hands, wed still like to give our readers the opportunity to browse some of our books online. Apr 18, 2018 kim zetter, author of the article, an unprecedented look at stuxnet, the worlds first digital weapon provides an excerpt from her own book titled, countdown to zero day. Zetter tells the story of stuxnet as an international who done it, revealing interesting moral questions and problems over the course of the book. This book will entertain, educate, and enlighten the security and it community about the world of elite security professionals who safeguard the internet from the most. Although neither country has openly admitted responsibility, the worm is widely.
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