Wake Up Call for Cyber Security Experts : Stuxnet Attacks

Cyber security analysts in United States believe US computer responsible for managing and maintaining water supply, energy, manufacturing plants and even nuclear plants are at possible threat, similar to that happened to Iran.They told senate today that Stuxnet computer worm , discoverd last June, is  "professionally" coded and may take advantage of four severe security vulnerabilities of Microsoft Windows, which were not known before the attack.

Michael Assante , President, National Board of Information Security Examiners , Idaho , said computers are prone to this virus.

"We are extremely susceptible,"

"You're talking about a very well-resourced and structured adversary."

Lieberman , a Connecticut independent said

"The very fact that Stuxnet exists shows that we can no longer pretend that a cyber attack on our critical infrastructure is hypothetical and hyperbolic,"

Stuxnet attacks are majorly discovered in Iran, giving rise to possibilities that attack was meant to infect nuclear facilities there.

Dean Turner, director of Symantec's Global Intelligence Network sees such attacks as a wake-up call to cyber security experts :
"a wake-up call to critical infrastructure systems around the world."

He didn't deny future possibility of such attacks, taking full control over the infrastructure concerned :

"direct-attacks to control critical infrastructure are possible and not necessarily spy novel fictions," he said.

"a working and fearsome prototype of a cyber-weapon that will lead to the creation of a new arms race in the world." Kespersky Lab, Russian digital security company says about worms which also held this worm responsbile for 60% of attacks on Iran nuclear plant.

Sean McGurk , Acting Director , Department of Homeland Security's National Cybersecurity and Communications Integration Center (NCCIC) gave the word for Stuxnet "a game changer" before the senate.
He said this malicious software has changed the way, the targeted cyberattacks work :

"significantly changed the landscape of targeted cyberattacks,"

"For us, to use a very overused term, it's a game-changer," he said.

This Stuxnet mainly targets computer control systems created by German comapny Siemens,  is used to manage water supplies,power plants ,oil rigs and other "critical" plants.