Ten computer viruses that changed the world
Summary: In the malware arms race that has seen digital villains stay one step ahead of the good guys, some landmarks stand out. ZDNet UK picks the most important, and most unexpected, unpleasant surprises to confront IT users
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Stuxnet
8. Stuxnet (2010)
The most sophisticated malware observed, this is a uniquely targeted worm that propagates via Windows and attacks industrial controller hardware — but only of a certain configuration (such as the Siemens S7-300 controller, above).
It is thought to have been designed to damage the Iranian nuclear programme, and may well have succeeded. When it finds its target system, it reprograms high-frequency motor controllers to operate in an intermittently out-of-specification way. It thereby upsets industrial processes in a manner that's hard to identify.
Although the authors of Stuxnet aren't known, reports earlier this year said that the malware was claimed as a success of the Israeli Defence Force, in a video shown at the retirement party of the force's chief of general staff, Lieutenant General Gabi Ashkenaz.
Photo credit: Ulli1105
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