What is attackware?
Why is it more dangerous than standard computer malware?
What is attackware? According to cyber security experts, it is malicious software designed to damage or disable specific items, and to cause physical damage (not just hardware and software damage) to real things and places. Most recently, the Stuxnet worm has been identified as a complex computer worm specifically created to damage an Iranian nuclear reactor, perhaps by running turbines too fast or shutting valves in a certain way that would prevent fail-safe systems from deploying. Attackware differs from most computer viruses and worms because it intends to cause real damage, and it is also (in this case) designed for a single installation. The attackware itself may not have been exposed if it had not been found in places like India, Pakistan, and Indonesia, which are all places coincidentally serviced by Russian experts who may have carried the malware on a memory stick. Even though this particular attackware was designed for one installation, over forty thousand other systems around the world have been infected.
The dangers related to attackware are alarming outside the normal cyber security channels. Spyware can find hidden information and make it public, but attackware can destroy critical infrastructure components, and endanger public safety. Any kind of sophisticated worm that can take over processes at a nuclear power plant is cause for alarm. Obviously, internet security, virus protection, and embedded system communications are going to need an added level of security to prevent a range of disasters, many of which could cause permanent damage or contamination.
Notes and Special Information
Special note: This site is about an emerging topic in cyber security, and at this time we do not know what kind of virus protection would be used against complex attackware.