Information Technology Policy fellow Chris Bronk thinks the United States needs to do a better job of protecting its computer systems from malicious software, which he says is becoming increasingly sophisticated – and dangerous.
In a recent commentary in the Houston Chronicle, Bronk discusses a reported cyberattack against the Iranian nuclear program by a highly complex piece of computer malware, called Stuxnet. The Iranian government is keeping mum on the details, but Bronk says the threat is real, and U.S. computer systems are vulnerable.
“The instance of Stuxnet that hit the Iranians was most likely delivered by the former method, with some guileful clandestine operative plugging the USB stick into the effected (computers). That should make for a good movie plot.
What will also make for good cinema, but a bad day for anyone affected, is when the next Stuxnet crashes out an electrical grid, upstream oil-and-gas operation or hospital medical data system here.”
Download Chris Bronk’s Oct. 31, 2010, Houston Chronicle commentary, “Stuxnet virus exposes risks.”