HUA HIN, Thailand - Iran this week claimed it had detected Duqu malware on some
of its computer networks. Duqu was discovered last month as a variant of the
Stuxnet worm that wreaked havoc on nuclear facilities in the Islamic Republic
and was designed specifically to target industrial control systems.
Duqu appears to be a Trojan that facilitates remote access capabilities and
gathers information in preparation for a major cyber-attack at a later time; it
enters a computer via an exploit in Windows font parsing software that is
triggered by opening an infected Microsoft Word document.
Iranian authorities did not confirm whether nuclear installations were again
the target and have stated that they now have the infection under control.
According to Iran's civil defense program
head, Gholamreza Jalali, "We are in the initial phase of fighting the Duqu
virus, the final report which says which organizations the virus has spread to
and what its impacts are has not been completed yet. All the organizations and
centers that could be susceptible to being contaminated are being controlled."
The finger-pointing has begun and a number of clues in the code may lead to
revelations regarding those responsible for the cyber-attacks. An e-mail from
someone identifying himself as Mr B Jason was sent to a number of companies and
organizations requesting a joint business venture with an attached spurious
Word document listing the requests. Computer security firms believe that the
name is a reference to the Jason Bourne spy movies and books.
Additionally, the rogue font in question is named Dexter Regular, created by a
company called Showtime Inc. It is believed that Duqu's code writers were
making reference to the cable broadcasting company of that name, which is
behind the TV series Dexter, about a crime scene investigation doctor
who is a serial killer.
It is highly suspected that Israeli intelligence Mossad, with a little help
from British and American intelligence agencies, created and deployed the
Stuxnet code that crippled Iran's nuclear enrichment facilities last year by
sabotaging the centrifuges.
Another cyber-attack occurred in April this year when malware dubbed "Stars"
was discovered on Iranian computer networks. This keylogger code was designed
to capture key strokes and passwords and take screenshots; it is likely that
this virus was part of an initial incursion to facilitate the deployment of
Duqu six months later.
However, Iran is not alone; Duqu has been also discovered on systems in other
countries including France, India, Ukraine as well as the United Kingdom.
Security experts at Kasperspy Lab, a Russian company, believe that the Duqu
control servers have now been deactivated by the attackers and critical
information on them has been deleted.
Western leaders have been debating military action against Iran this week
following a report issued by the International Atomic Energy Agency containing
evidence implying military dimensions to Iran's nuclear program - something
Tehran strongly denies.
Telecoms
Apple's gadgets may constantly dominate the tech news headlines but Google's
Android is dominating the mobile market and, according to Gartner research
firm, took over 50% of it in the third quarter. The Android army advanced to
take 52.5% of the global market share at the expense of rivals Apple, whose iOS
platform dropped 1.6% to 15%. Android has doubled its share from the same
period last year when it had 25% of the market covered.
Nokia's Symbian platform took the biggest beating by falling from 36% in the
third quarter last year to 17% for the current period. Research In Motion also
took a hit as its BlackBerry operating system lost 4.4% to end up with 11%
market share. Microsoft failed to make ground as Windows Phone 7 fell from 2.7%
in 2010 to just 1.5% for the period.
Overall global mobile-phone sales grew by only 5.6% compared with 16.5% growth
in the previous quarter - 440.5 million phones were sold during the period.
Gartner blames the European economic slowdown for the sluggish growth figure.
Nokia remains the world's largest cell-phone manufacturer but its market share
fell to 23.9% from 28.2% a year earlier. Samsung, LG and Apple all made gains
and closed the gap as smartphones increased their share of the total
mobile-phone market to 26%.
Internet
Google took another swipe at rival Apple this week when the company launched a
music service to compete with iTunes and Amazon. Google Music has more than 13
million songs despite the failure to come to an agreement with major record
label Warner Music. The online store will be heavily integrated into Android
and will allow music sharing via the computing cloud.
Users will be able to stream, store and share up to 20,000 songs, some of which
will be free and others priced between US$0.69 to $1.29. Artists will be able
to create their own pages to promote music and videos for a onetime fee of $25.
Apple this week launched iTunes Match which, for a $25 per year fee, will match
all of the music on a user's hard disk to an online storage locker in the
cloud. The service allows people to share music over different Apple devices
via the Internet however it has limitations with large music libraries and only
really plays nicely with songs purchased through iTunes, those bought elsewhere
may not match up.
Science
An ice lake just beneath the surface of one of Jupiter's moons has excited the
science community this week as it could contain liquid water, a potential
habitat for life. The discovery, a few kilometers below the surface of Europa,
was made by an American team, using NASA's Galileo probe, which noted a
fractured area of ice and material above it.
Scientists have long suspected that a liquid or slushy ocean exists under
Europa's surface, warmed by the tidal forces of Jupiter's powerful gravity.
Shallow lakes also mean that surface waters are likely to be mixing with deeper
water. Icy eddies could transfer nutrients between the surface water and the
depths of the ocean. Europa's icy primordial soup may just contain the first
signs of life in the solar system.
Martin J Young is an Asia Times Online correspondent based in Thailand.
(Copyright 2011 Asia Times Online (Holdings) Ltd. All rights reserved. Please
contact us about sales, syndication and republishing.)
Head
Office: Unit B, 16/F, Li Dong Building, No. 9 Li Yuen Street East,
Central, Hong Kong Thailand Bureau:
11/13 Petchkasem Road, Hua Hin, Prachuab Kirikhan, Thailand 77110
Telecoms
