Blog #1: Cyber warfare becoming a more serious threat?

Last summer a computer worm called Stuxnet was discovered that seemed to be a clear attack on a nuclear plant in Iran. It is widely speculated that the U.S. and Israeli governments together are responsible for the attacks, so much so that on Monday, Iran's top nuclear negotiator told NBC news that they had uncovered evidence which proves U.S. involvement. Neither the U.S. or Israel have made comments.
The worm was basically a cyber missile that was intended to postpone Iran's development of nuclear weapons. It was designed to do basically two things: send Iran's centrifuges out of control and another to record normal operations in the plant and replay them, so that while the centrifuges in the plant were tearing themselves apart, the security tapes looked as though everything was running smoothly. It is said that the attack put the Iranian plant back five years in creating the nuclear bomb.
This cyberattack has been the first of this magnitude and this sophistication. Recently there was a Congressional Research Service report that stated worries about the possibility that Stuxnet could be the beginning of a cyber-war against the United States. Apparently the computer virus could be altered to cause serious damage to transportation, power, water systems, and many other activities that are important to the functioning of modern society.
This seems to be the first well planned attack of this form of warfare, and it may be a foreshadowing of what is to come.

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/01/16/world/middleeast/16stuxnet.html?pagewanted=1&ref=atomicweapons

http://www.voanews.com/english/news/middle-east/Iran-Blames-Computer-Attack-on-US-114149864.html

http://www.hurriyetdailynews.com/n.php?n=stuxnet-worm-a-us-israeli-project-security-expert-confirm-2011-01-19

http://www.allheadlinenews.com/briefs/articles/90031541?Cyber-attack%20on%20Iranian%20nuclear%20program%20risks%20reprisals%20against%20U.S.