Looks like another super-virus has been discovered, this time having been on the loose for over two years (beginning in 2010). This 20mb virus, compared to the 500kb Stuxnet, will take much longer to analyze and reverse engineer than it’s lightweight predecessor. Flame appears to be a gatherer of information specifically able to lift information from email inboxes, record audio from computer microphones, access Bluetooth communications, log keystrokes, and take screenshots of computer operations like instant messaging.
Like Stuxnet the dominant majority of infections are again located in Iran. A very interesting thing about Flame is that it was coded in the Lua programming language which is commonly used to write code for games like Angry Birds. Because of this interesting choice by the engineers of Flame it has led to two different “schools of thought”:
“Some say Flame's authors were being exceedingly clever by using an unusual programming language to develop a deadly piece of malware in an attempt to confuse hi-tech security systems.
Others say those behind the superbug were amateurs who did little to do much to cover their tracks.”
Good, short article on Flame: http://www.pcworld.com/article/256508/the_flame_virus_your_faqs_answered.html
An awesome, thorough article about Flame and Stuxnet before it: http://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/warnings-about-flame-virus-come-amid-suspicions-of-us-role-in-launching-secret-cyberweapons/2012/06/02/gJQAEQTx8U_story.html
-It is in this article where it details the New York Times article that outlined that the Obama administration had oversight of the Stuxnet operation that had started during the Bush administration: (http://www.nytimes.com/2012/06/01/world/middleeast/obama-ordered-wave-of-cyberattacks-against-iran.html?pagewanted=all) <—AWEsome details about U.S. involvement
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