Israeli Vice Prime Minister Moshe Ya'alon hints Israel could be behind Flame virus attack
A TOP government official has hinted that Israel could be behind the Flame virus, a piece of malicious software used to attack Iranian computers.
The powerful virus has been sabotaging government systems for at least five years in the Middle East.
The "Flame" program is claimed to be at least 20 times more powerful than any previously known cyberwarfare programs.
Israeli Vice Prime Minister Moshe Ya'alon, in an interview with Army Radio, said that "whoever sees the Iranian threat as a serious threat would be likely to take different steps, including these, in order to hurt them," The Jerusalem Post reports.
He also noted, "Israel is blessed to be a nation possessing superior technology. These achievements of ours open up all kinds of possibilities for us."
Kaspersky Lab, one of the world's biggest producers of anti-virus software, said its experts discovered the virus during an investigation prompted by the International Telecommunication Union (ITU).
Iran appears to have been the main target of the attack, and the announcement comes just a month after the Islamic republic said it halted the spread of a data-deleting virus targeting computer servers in its oil sector.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, while not mentioning Flame, spoke of Israel's cyber prowess at an international security conference at Tel Aviv University.
"In the cyber arena, the size of a country is not that important but there is great significance in its scientific ability and in that Israel is blessed," he said.
Meanwhile, Iran says it has developed tools that can defend against the Flame virus.
Iran's National Computer Emergency Response Team (Maher) said in a statement that the detection and clean-up tool was finished in early May and is now ready for distribution to organisations at risk of infection.
The powerful virus has been sabotaging government systems for at least five years in the Middle East.
The "Flame" program is claimed to be at least 20 times more powerful than any previously known cyberwarfare programs.
Israeli Vice Prime Minister Moshe Ya'alon, in an interview with Army Radio, said that "whoever sees the Iranian threat as a serious threat would be likely to take different steps, including these, in order to hurt them," The Jerusalem Post reports.
He also noted, "Israel is blessed to be a nation possessing superior technology. These achievements of ours open up all kinds of possibilities for us."
Kaspersky Lab, one of the world's biggest producers of anti-virus software, said its experts discovered the virus during an investigation prompted by the International Telecommunication Union (ITU).
Iran appears to have been the main target of the attack, and the announcement comes just a month after the Islamic republic said it halted the spread of a data-deleting virus targeting computer servers in its oil sector.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, while not mentioning Flame, spoke of Israel's cyber prowess at an international security conference at Tel Aviv University.
"In the cyber arena, the size of a country is not that important but there is great significance in its scientific ability and in that Israel is blessed," he said.
Meanwhile, Iran says it has developed tools that can defend against the Flame virus.
Iran's National Computer Emergency Response Team (Maher) said in a statement that the detection and clean-up tool was finished in early May and is now ready for distribution to organisations at risk of infection.
itexam - 30. Mai, 05:13
