
Israel silent as Iran hit by computer virus more violent than Stuxnet – report - chablent
https://www.timesofisrael.com/tv-report-israel-silent-as-iran-hit-by-computer-virus-more-violent-than-stuxnet/
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ectospheno
The title is just a variant on the argumentum ex silentio logical fallacy.

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Freestyler_3
More violent but also more out in the open, where stuxnet was a silent killer.
(meaning it was deliberately less violent)

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sneak
How can software be “more violent”? How can software that isn’t running
directly on a weapons platform be “violent” at all?

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cavanasm
If the software physically destroys the hardware that is running it, I'd say
that's fairly violent. Stuxnet, the virus it's being compared to, destroyed
the centrifuges it infected. Sort of the issue with the "more violent"
explanation so far is that Iran isn't saying how bad the damage is, and it
sounds like this new virus might be hitting critical infrastructure like power
systems, but no one will say anything beyond "systems are being attacked".

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yasp
So is there any indication yet what the virus did / is doing?

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thrwia22
but whats the story? some guy again picked an unknown usb stick en route to
his job at super secret nuclear facility and just plugged it into a nuclear
supervising computer again to see the contents?

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shard972
To say stuxnet was akin to someone plugging a USB drive in really downplays
how serious the operation surrounding stuxnet was.

Iran was having their nuclear scientists assassinated in the streets at the
time stuxnet was being infiltrated into the nuclear facilities.

I have a feeling that when you have that level of resources being dedicated to
a mission, your not hinging your whole plan on someone picking up a random usb
and plugging it in.

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2RTZZSro
Israel Mossad used remotely detonated magnetically attached bombs attached to
the victim's car door while they were stuck in traffic using a motorcycle
drive-by attack. That's unusual outside of the Middle East. In most other
countries they trigger remote exploits (electronic and physical) in target
vehicles which lead to terrible crashes.

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djrogers
> In most other countries they trigger remote exploits (electronic and
> physical) in target vehicles which lead to terrible crashes.

Citation please! I’ve never heard of this actually being done IRL - only on
CSI type shows. Where/when/who has actually used this technique in a killing?
It seems overly complex and prone to suboptimal outcomes (the vast majority of
car crashes only result in minor injuries).

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josefresco
This isn't a citation, but if you're interested in the topic and learning more
about to what length Israel will go to assassinate perceived enemies, I
recommend "Rise and Kill First" by Ronen Bergman

[https://www.amazon.com/Rise-Kill-First-Targeted-
Assassinatio...](https://www.amazon.com/Rise-Kill-First-Targeted-
Assassinations/dp/1400069718)

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barnesto
Perceived

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josefresco
I actually regret using that word - I'll leave it so your reply has context.
Perception is always a factor in determining one's enemies or allies - Israel
is no exception.

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salimmadjd
OT this content was posted by a user who registered just 3 days ago.

user: chablent

created: 3 days ago

karma: 524

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quickthrower2
He has what looks like a bot running posting articles from major new sources
about 1 per hour. A couple of those articles did well on HN and those got him
the Karma. Nice Karma gaming.

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onetimemanytime
how is it possible to submit so many news stories, like 10 a day. The "posting
too fast" didn't kick in?

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ShorsHammer
Browse new, you'll see the same submitters over and over again. Create a
system and people will game it.

Wouldn't be surprised if they are sold or used ideologically to sway opinion.
The internet once prospered and thrived on anonymity but feel that sentiment
is shifting back towards integrity and longstanding handles. Perhaps there's a
way to do this still pseudonymously with zero knowledge proofs, though likely
will be yet another system capable of being gamed.

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qubax
Espionage is one thing. But isn't targeted cyberattacks on another nation's
facilities and infrastructure an act of war?

Anyone know if there are any international law covering cyberattacks?

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protomyth
If cyberattacks counted, the US would be at war with China and Russia. I bet
there will be a treaty eventually, and I have some fears on what secondary
restriction it will place on the internet.

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cm2187
A treaty that is unenforceable (ie no one can observe the outcome) is as good
as no treaty. You can't really attribute most cyberattacks and if you
automatically assume it is country x, then country y in conflict with country
x will rush into attacking you.

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protomyth
Oh, they could make it enforceable, but I don't think anyone would really like
the resulting version of the internet except bureaucrats who crave power over
all things.

You see some politicians mention that all software developers should be
licensed, and we see companies requiring signed code to allow it to run on
platforms. Licenses for servers happen in some places. Its all little step,
but a few more gets you a locked and licensed computing network.

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NotANaN
Guessing that Israel feels (or was explicitly told to be) unleashed to act
against Iran by the Trump administration after Bolton entered.

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pc86
Based on?

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SiempreViernes
Official US policy against Iran is that they should suffer sanctions despite
adhering to the treaty that got them lifted. Trump alsomoved the embassy,
discarding all the policy against itfor no good reason.

That Trump would tell bibi to go town if he wants to is extremely plausible,
it’s pretty weird to question that.

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tyingq
Assuming these were already airgapped. I wonder if this could have been
prevented with a 10 cent glue stick for USB ports.

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bhouston
Too bad the us didn't stay in the Obama negotiated P5+1 nuclear agreement.

