A Look at Stuxnet, the World's First Digital Weapon

Re:A Look at Stuxnet, the World's First Digital Weapon by transpy on Monday November 03, 2014 @02:06PM (#8552723)

I have lost the ability to read a long piece. I feel frustrated when I go to the news site and I am presented with a 'narrative' that seems to hide the real information. I need a paragraph that tells me straight forward what this weapon is about, not a long, obfuscated narrative. It's my fault, I'm not complaining.

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Re:A Look at Stuxnet, the World's First Digital Weapon by presumeaway on Monday November 03, 2014 @04:15PM (#8553564)

I think I know why you're getting down-voted, but it's an interesting and real issue.

If you go a while, mostly digesting only tiny chunks of information, your brain optimizes around that and eventually becomes bad at dealing with longer narratives. (Aside: sometimes those narratives are worthwhile, other times they seem like they're just filler to make editors and publishers happy. But that's beside the point.)

It's also something we seem to be losing as a society.

The good news is, at least in my own experience, it's a skill we can develop (and it's closely related to attention span). When I buckle down and read complex texts for non-Internet periods of time (20-30 minutes), I quickly regain my speed and comprehension. But I find it important to deliberately exercise that part of my brain.

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Re:A Look at Stuxnet, the World's First Digital Weapon by lcedp on Wednesday November 05, 2014 @06:15PM (#8564846)

I second that whole-heartedly. Sometimes google/ddg/wikipedia gives the paragraph you are talking about:

> Stuxnet is a computer worm that was discovered in June 2010. It was designed to attack industrial Programmable Logic Controllers or PLCs. PLCs allow the automation of electromechanical processes such as those used to control machinery on factory assembly lines, amusement rides, or centrifuges for separating nuclear material. Exploiting four zero-day flaws, Stuxnet functions by targeting machines using the Microsoft Windows operating system and networks, then seeking out Siemens Step7 software. Stuxnet reportedly compromised Iranian PLCs, collecting information on industrial systems and causing the fast-spinning centrifuges to tear themselves apart. Stuxnet's design and architecture are not domain-specific and it could be tailored as a platform for attacking modern SCADA and PLC systems, the majority of which reside in Europe, Japan and the US.

Now I know what the hack Stuxnet is. Quite interesting but I'm not feeling like going into details - time saved.

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