The Stuxnet Computer Worm: Harbinger of an Emerging Warfare Capability

Paul K. Kerr | Congressional Research Service | 2010-12-09

This report examines the September 2010 emergence of a new form of cyber attack that appeared to target Iran. Through the use of thumb drives in computers that were not connected to the Internet, a malicious software program known as "Stuxnet" infected computer systems that were used to control the functioning of a nuclear power plant. Once inside the system, Stuxnet had the ability to degrade or destroy the software on which it operated. The report asserts that while "early reports focused on the impact on facilities in Iran, researchers discovered that the program had spread throughout multiple countries worldwide" and that its emergence is could threaten "the basic functioning of modern society."