The Stuxnet Virus now has human victims.
There is emerging, however, real human damage caused by Stuxnet. The Iranian regime has turned on its own scientific community, announcing an unspecified number of arrests in an attempt to find those responsible for introducing Stuxnet into seemingly secure computer systems. DEBKAFile, which is not always reliable but has been ahead of the curve on this issue, also is reporting that in response to the Iranian crackdown some Russian nuclear support personnel have been leaving Iran.
In addition to whatever real damage Stuxnet may have on computer systems, the malware may create a mini-purge in Iranian scientific ranks which, much like Stalin’s paranoid purge of the Soviet military in the 1930s, is self-defeating.
Paranoia is a bitch and breeds upon itself and spreads much like the virri themselves The The purges and the resultant distrust may do as as much much damage to the nuclear programs as the malware itself. I wouldn’t want to feed their paranoia, but it is ironic that they chose to trust the Russians in the first place. ‘;-)
