"Computer virus linked to spying" by Nicole Perlroth | New York Times, May 29, 2012
NEW YORK — A complex computer virus has been pilfering confidential information from computers in the Middle East for at least two years, according to a security report released Monday.
The virus, called Flame, has been infecting computers in Iran, Israel, Lebanon, Sudan, Syria, Saudi Arabia, and Egypt....
It's an interesting combination of countries, isn't it?
If the report’s findings prove to be true, Flame would be the third major Internet weapon to have been discovered since 2010.
It's an interesting combination of countries, isn't it?
If the report’s findings prove to be true, Flame would be the third major Internet weapon to have been discovered since 2010.
The first, named Stuxnet, was intended to attack software in specialized industrial equipment and was ultimately used to destroy centrifuges in an Iranian nuclear facility in 2010.
See: The Boston Globe's Invisible Ink: Israeli Virus Infects Iran
It's an Israeli creation? Where's the outrage?
Israeli Worm Eating Its Way Through Iran
And who knows where else.
The second virus, called Duqu, like Flame, performed reconnaissance. Security researchers believe Duqu was created by the same group of programmers behind Stuxnet.
Is that supposed to be a play on Count Dooku? They never tire of laughing in your face with their funny word games and code names.
The researchers said Flame appeared to have been developed by a different group of programmers. It contains 20 times more code than Stuxnet and is much more widespread than Duqu....
If Stuxnet was a preview and Duqu a recon then this flame very well could be the end. It will burn down all the computers!
Talk about UNFORESEEN and UNINTENDED(?) CONSEQUENCES!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
You guys are NOT ONLY CRIMINALS, you are ALL-TIME IDIOTS!!!!!!!!
‘‘Flame can easily be described as one of the most complex threats ever discovered,’’ Alexander Gostev, head of Kaspersky’s global research and analysis team, wrote in a blog post Monday. ‘‘It’s big and incredibly sophisticated. It pretty much redefines the notion of cyberwar and cyberespionage.’’
Researchers say they do not know who is behind the virus, but given its complexity and the geography of its targets, they said it was most likely being staged by a government.
Related: The Two Worst Countries in the World
Gotta be Israel judging by the MSM vagueness.
The targets of Stuxnet and Duqu suggest to some researchers that they may have been part of a joint US-Israeli project to sabotage Iran’s nuclear program.
It's an act of war, folks. That's the way it would be treated if Iran did it to USrael.
Only problem is, Iran's leaders are not insane like the cabal of world-domination dreamers currently heading up the EUSraeli Empire. It's not something I take great joy in typing; however, it is the abominable truth here in the early 21st-century.
Like Duqu and Stuxnet, Flame infects machines through a known security hole in the Windows operating software.
Put there by.... ?????
--more--"
"Computers of Iranian officials infected with data-mining virus" by Thomas Erdbrink | New York Times, May 30, 2012
TEHRAN - The computers of high-ranking Iranian officials appear to have been penetrated by a data-mining virus called Flame, in what may be the most destructive cyberattack on Iran since the notorious Stuxnet virus, an Iranian cyberdefense organization confirmed Tuesday.
In a message posted on its website, Iran’s Computer Emergency Response Team Coordination Center warned that the virus is potentially more harmful than the 2010 Stuxnet virus, which destroyed several centrifuges used for Iran’s nuclear enrichment program. In contrast to Stuxnet, the newly identified virus is designed not to do damage but to secretly collect information from a wide variety of sources.
They have been doing it for a long time, 'murkn.
Flame, which specialists say could be as much as five years old, was discovered by Iranian cyberexperts. In a statement about Flame on its website, Kaspersky Lab, a Russian producer of antivirus software, said that “the complexity and functionality of the newly discovered malicious program exceed those of all other cyber menaces known to date.’’
Just remember this the next time you read all about hackers, etc, in the Zionist-run Jewish press organ we call a paper 'round h're.
:-(
The virus bears special encryption hallmarks that an Iranian cyberdefense official said bear strong similarities to previous Israeli malware.
“Its encryption has a special pattern which you only see coming from Israel,’’ said Kamran Napelian, an official with Iran’s Computer Emergency Response Team. “Unfortunately, they are very powerful in the field of IT.’’
Because it was created there.
While Israel never comments officially on such matters, its involvement was hinted at by top officials there.
“Anyone who sees the Iranian threat as a significant threat - it’s reasonable that he will take various steps, including these, to harm it,’’ said Moshe Yaalon, Israel’s vice prime minister and strategic affairs minister.
In a speech Tuesday night, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu did not mention Flame specifically, but he did include cyberthreats as one of five critical types of threats Israel faces, saying, “We are investing a great deal of money in that, human capital and financial capital. I expect these investments to yield a great deal in the coming years.’’
Israel faces a threat? Am I typing on my head? They are the threat!
Napelian said that Flame seems designed to mine data from personal computers and is distributed through USB sticks rather than the Internet, meaning that a USB stick has to be inserted manually into at least one computer in a network.
“This virus copies what you enter on your keyboard, it monitors what you see on your computer screen,’’ Napelian said in a telephone interview.
I'm sorry if they don't like the commentary and stuff you just called up on your computer, dearly beloved reader. Neither do I after six years. So often I feel like I'm typing the same things over and over again. Only the names change.
In his speech Tuesday, at the annual conference of Israel National Security Studies, Netanyahu made his first public comments about the talks last week in Baghdad on Iran’s nuclear program, expressing disappointment that the Western powers were not demanding more of Tehran.
He's wondering why you have not bombed and missiled yet.
“Not only should the sanctions be intensified, the demands should be intensified,’’ Netanyahu said. “I say sadly that this is not what’s being required of Iran today. In the previous round they were asked to stop the 3.5 percent enrichment and that’s not what’s happening now.’’
Stop a 3.5 fart poot? How unreasonable when Iran signed a treaty giving them the right -- with assistance from the very powers putting them under sanction -- to develop peaceful nuclear power. 3.5 a far cry away from 90+% needed for weapons (Israel being the only power in the region with actual nuclear weapons, but.... ).
No disrespect intended, but we are tired of hearing it. Take it somewhere else.
--more--"
"Iran admits Flame computer virus fight began with oil attack" Associated Press, May 31, 2012
TEHRAN - Computer technicians battling to contain a complex virus last month resorted to the ultimate firewall measures - cutting off Internet links to Iran’s Oil Ministry, rigs, and the hub for nearly all the country’s crude exports.
At the time, Iranian officials described it as a data-siphoning blitz on key oil networks.
Of course. Control of oil a key factor in Zionist plan for regional hegemony.
On Wednesday, they gave it a name: A strike by the powerful Flame malware that experts this week have called a new and highly sophisticated program capable of hauling away computer files and even listening in on computer users.
Just wondering if they can hear this, or whether the volume needs to be turned up.
Its origins remain a mystery, but international suspicion quickly fell on Israel opening another front in its suspected covert wars with archenemy Tehran.
I'm tired of the obfuscations and such. I mean, really, really tired.
The Flame virus - a mix of cyberspy and hard-drive burglar - has been detected across the Middle East recently. But Iran’s linkage to the oil network attack in April could mark its first major infiltration and suggests a significant escalation in attempts to disrupt Iran’s key commercial and nuclear sites. Iran is one of the world’s leading oil producers.
--more--"
The importance of this three-day run of stories in my newspaper is also that the globe-kicking controllers wish you to know they have this weapon.
More heat on Iran (in the form of steaming horse s***):
"Image said to show Iran containment site" May 14, 2012
VIENNA - A drawing based on information from inside an Iranian military site shows an explosives containment chamber of the type needed for nuclear arms-related tests that UN inspectors suspect Tehran has conducted there.
Iran denies such testing and has neither confirmed nor denied the existence of such a chamber.
The computer-generated drawing was provided to the Associated Press by an official of a country tracking Iran’s nuclear program who said it proves the structure exists, despite Tehran’s refusal to acknowledge it.
Gee, I can't imagine who it could be stovepiping through my mouthpiece media. Seems like we went through all this about 9 years ago.
That official said the image is based on information from a person who had seen the chamber at the Parchin military site, adding that going into detail would endanger the life of that informant.
The official comes from an International Atomic Energy Agency member country that is severely critical of Iran’s assertions that its nuclear activities are peaceful and asserts they are a springboard for making atomic arms.
I think we can all hazard a guess, huh?
A former senior atomic energy agency official said he believes the drawing is accurate....
A f***ing drawing, please. You gotta do better than that.
--more--"
"Iran urged to comply with UN nuclear inspections; Officials want to see documents, key research site" by George Jahn | Associated Press, May 15, 2012
VIENNA - The UN’s nuclear agency urged Iran on Monday to give it access to the sites, people, and documents it needs to determine whether Tehran has conducted secret research into nuclear weapons development.
The International Atomic Energy Agency made the appeal as it renewed talks with Iranian envoys aimed at persuading Tehran to allow agency inspectors to visit a suspected nuclear research site at the Parchin military complex.
Did I mention I was sick of the "absurd propaganda by its Western adversaries and Israel -- such as this?
The agency believes that site was used by Iran to test multipoint
explosives of the type used to set off a nuclear charge, and new
evidence of the testing was provided to the Associated Press over the
weekend.
Olli Heinonen, who was the senior official in charge of the Iran matter at the UN nuclear agency until he left last year, says the drawing is “very similar’’ to a photo he has seen and identifies as that of the Iranian chamber, adding that even the colors of the two images match.
Oh, well, now I'm convinced.
In Israel, Defense Minister Ehud Barack said Monday that intelligence agencies are familiar with the drawing, telling Army Radio that it reaffirms the need to halt Iran’s nuclear capabilities....
Cui bon... yeah. I can't describe to you the feeling of deflation when I finally realized the U.N. was nothing but a Jew tool.
Hey, Israel can't say it wasn't warned -- which is why they will make the U.S. do it.
Warnings by Israel that it may attack Iran’s nuclear facilities eased after Iran and the six - the United States, Russia, China, Britain, France, and Germany - met last month and agreed there was enough common will for the Baghdad round. But with the Jewish state saying it is determined to stop Iran before it develops the capacity to build nuclear weapons, failure at the Iraq talks could turn such threats into reality....
And they will face condemnation until the end of time and beyond, with blog as my witness.
Sanctions have made it increasingly difficult for Iran to find buyers, but Tehran has been routinely switching off satellite tracking systems on its sea-bound oil tankers for more than a month, US officials and industry analysts have said. The tactic was reported by the Washington Post on Monday.
The practice was begun in early April and now affects a quarter of Iran’s tanker fleet, according to the International Energy Agency, which has been monitoring it. Such action would be a violation of maritime law.
See: Sailing the High Seas Near Somalia
“I do not believe the United States should endorse a treaty that makes it a legal obligation for productive countries to pay royalties to less productive countries, based on rhetoric about the common heritage of mankind,’’ former Defense secretary Donald Rumsfeld said."
How come he didn't leave the Capitol in chains, and why was appearance darn near hidden by the paper?
The UN’s atomic energy agency has been blocked by Iran for more than four years in attempts to investigate what it says is intelligence from member states strongly suggesting that Iran secretly worked on developing nuclear weapons....
Oh, I can take the lies anymore! Iran has let them in and they are looking around where ever they want.
Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaahhhh!!!!!
--more--"
"Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of Israel told reporters Friday that he saw no evidence of sincerity on Iran’s part. “It looks as though they see these talks as another opportunity to divide and delay, just like North Korea did for years,’’ Netanyahu said."
Proved a liar:
"Iran signals openness to nuclear inspections; Hopes are raised for a solution to nuclear standoff" by Steven Erlanger | New York Times, May 23, 2012
AMMAN, Jordan - Iran signaled a willingness Tuesday to allow potentially intrusive international inspections of secret military facilities, raising expectations that it was searching for a diplomatic solution to the standoff over its nuclear program.
Doing everything they can to avert a war.
With talks between Iran and global powers set to begin Wednesday in Baghdad, the director-general of the International Atomic Energy Agency, Yukiya Amano, said he had reached something of a breakthrough with Iranian officials on the agency’s longstanding request for access to the facilities. Amano’s assertion suggested that Iran was seeking to set a positive tone for the nuclear talks and perhaps ease pressure from strict Western-led sanctions that are about to become even more severe.
That will soon be foiled.
Amano did not specify a timetable or other details.
Sort of how Israel treats the Palestinians.
But Amano told reporters at the atomic agency’s headquarters in Vienna that there had been an “important development’’ in the agency’s effort to reach a “structured agreement’’ on how its inspectors would conduct an investigation into whether the Iranians have sought ways in the past to weaponize enriched nuclear fuel, a longstanding suspicion by the United States, Israel and the European Union....
That's why I call it EUSrael.
Amano’s upbeat assessment, coming on top of recent optimistic signals from Western diplomats, suggested that Iran’s chief negotiator, Saeed Jalili, was signaling Iran’s sincerity in talks with the six global powers - the United States, France, Britain, Germany, Russia, and China - on a more wide-ranging deal to bring Iran back into compliance with Security Council resolutions and ensure that Iran is not trying to build a nuclear weapon.
No war, no war, no war, no war!!
The most immediate goal of the Baghdad talks for the six appears to be to get an agreement by Iran to stop enriching uranium to 20 percent purity - near the level required for a nuclear weapon - and to agree to discuss exporting its stockpile of uranium enriched to that level.
That's a LIE because it needs to be NEAR 90 for a weapon!
And they want to be sure Iran is prepared to move quickly to take concrete steps to calm global and regional concerns.
The White House welcomed Amano’s announcement with caution.
Sigh.
“It’s an agreement in principle that represents a step in the right direction,’’ said Jay Carney, the White House press secretary. “But as we’ve said in the past about the totality of Iran’s obligations and their fulfillment of them, we will make judgments about Iran’s behavior based on actions, not just promises or agreements.’’
The flip side is Israel.
--more--"
"Several accounts in Iran’s state-controlled media compared the positions taken by Tehran’s interlocutors in Baghdad to those of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of Israel."
Thus no progress.
Inspectors in Iran find traces of uranium with elevated purity
Either a miscalibration of equipment or operator error, sorry.
Iran won’t halt production of high-grade uranium
It's their right, and it's only 20 percent!
"Israel accuses Iran of nuclear deception; Accuses Tehran of more deception" by George Jahn | Associated Press, June 07, 2012
VIENNA - Ali Asghar Soltanieh, Iran’s chief International Atomic Energy
Agency delegate, said as much again Wednesday without responding
directly to Israeli delegate Ehud Azoulay, telling the agency’s
35-nation board that all allegations to the contrary “are forged and
baseless, and our nuclear activities are exclusively for peaceful
purposes.’’
You know, I THINK THE WORLD KNOWS!!!
You know, I THINK THE WORLD KNOWS!!!
They still made my printed war propaganda called a paper!
--more--"
"In Beijing, President Hu Jintao of China urged the visiting Iranian president, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, on Friday to be “flexible and pragmatic’’ at the talks scheduled for Moscow and to cooperate with the IAEA, news reports said.... “No progress’’.... “Not optimistic.’’
Remember what I said above?
And why is he even talking to Ahmadinejad?
"While usually in agreement with the conservatives on foreign policy and many other issues, he had tried to change the rules of the political game in Iran."
Related: Banking on Ahmadinejad
Bad bet. The new Hitler(?) on the outs!!!
Also see: Iran says all nuclear proposals on table for Moscow talks
But that doesn't matter because we're not listening.
And look at the bank the U.S. did get after:
"ING to pay $619m for Cuban, Iranian moves; US says bank violated sanctions" by Daniel Wagner | Associated Press, June 13, 2012
WASHINGTON — Dutch bank ING Bank NV will pay $619 million to settle charges that it secretly moved billions of dollars through the US financial system on behalf of Cuban and Iranian customers, in violation of US sanctions.
ING intentionally deleted information about thousands of transactions that would have linked the money to sanctioned parties in Cuba, Iran, and other countries, the Treasury Department said Tuesday.
The fine, a record for US sanctions violations, defuses multiple
criminal and civil probes of ING’s practices between 2002 and 2007.
Government still protecting banks.
It includes agreements that shield ING from further action by the Department of Justice, US Attorney for the District of Columbia, and the district attorney for the County of New York, ING said. All were investigating ING’s practices.
Government still protecting banks.
It includes agreements that shield ING from further action by the Department of Justice, US Attorney for the District of Columbia, and the district attorney for the County of New York, ING said. All were investigating ING’s practices.
--more--"
"New space center nears completion
TEHRAN - Iran is finishing construction of another space center that will allow it to soon launch more satellites into orbit, the country’s defense minister, General Ahmad Vahidi, said Saturday. It was the first confirmation that Iran is building a space facility amid the standoff with the West over Iran’s nuclear goals. Vahidi did not say where the new site is. Iran already has a satellite launch complex near Semnan and a satellite monitoring site near Mahdasht (AP)."
"2 detained as spies in Iran are married
SAN FRANCISCO - Two Americans detained and accused of spying after hiking near the Iraq-Iran border three years ago were married Saturday in California. A private wedding ceremony for Shane Bauer and Sarah Shourd was held at an undisclosed location, said attorney and family friend Ben Rosenfeld. Bauer, Shourd, and Josh Fattal, were arrested July 31, 2009, and held in Iran. Bauer and Fattal were sentenced to eight years after being convicted on spy-related charges, but were released after more than two years. Shourd was released after 14 months."
Related: Inside Iran's Prisons
I see Iran treats Israeli spies as they should be treated, in one way or another.
Justices deny ex-hostages’ claim vs. Iran
I just wanted you to know that you will always be my flame, readers.
Next Day Update (flame still burning):
"No breakthrough expected as nuclear talks with Iran resume; EU oil embargo to start in 2 weeks" by Henry Meyer | Bloomberg News, June 18, 2012
MOSCOW - “We are moving along the path that must be followed to prevent both a nuclear-armed Iran and another war.’’
ARE WE?
On May 25, the UN International Atomic Energy Agency said in its quarterly verification report that Iran increased its stockpile of higher-enriched uranium by a third. The heavy metal purified to 20 percent can make medical isotopes. Only a small technical step is required to enrich uranium to the weapons-grade 90 percent level.
Yeah, Iran could have a bomb tomorrow.... if they were making one, which there not.
Iran is facing growing pressure from economic sanctions
as well as from statements by Israeli leaders that their patience for
diplomacy is limited. Major world powers will impose “a certain time
limit’’ on efforts to reach a negotiated settlement with the Islamic
republic over its nuclear program, a European diplomat said on
condition of anonymity.
“Tehran appears to bank on a reelected President Obama
displaying more flexibility and an economically incapacitated Europe
fearing the adverse consequences of tougher sanctions,’’ the Crisis
Group in Brussels wrote in a June 15 policy brief. “None of this is
likely. If prospects for a deal fade, mutual escalation is more probable
and pressure by Israel for a military strike may intensify.’’
Tehran may be betting on the wrong guy. I mean, it would be right because in a fair election I think the American people stick with Obama (given the narrow choice of who will front for the controllers of the U.S. government), but we are going to have a fair election. No one in the world does anymore, if they ever did.
Tensions around Iran, the second-biggest producer in the
Organization of Petroleum Exporting Nations, have sent crude prices
higher this year.
Related: Obama Steps on the Gas For Israel
Yeah, the American consumer thanks you. I suppose it's the price of keeping Israel's hot breath off your back.
This year’s presidential election in the United States,
along with the 2013 vote for a new Iranian president, complicate the
diplomacy, wrote Russia’s former attache to Iran, Nikolay Kozhanov, in a June 14
analysis for the Washington Institute.
Actually, I think AIPAC does that.
President Obama and Iran’s Mahmoud Ahmadinejad “have very
limited room to maneuver,’’ Kozhanov said. “Any action on the nuclear
front could potentially improve their opponents’ chance. Both sides will
probably try to secure a status quo in the nuclear issue until 2013.’’
Then NO WAR THIS YEAR, right (unless you-know-who drags us all in)?!!!!!!!!!
And both leaders on their way out. Ahmadinejad no longer in favor and on his way out in any case, and Obama looking like he's going to lose the electoral college.
--more--"
