Flame Trojan also targeted Iran’s nuclear program

Like Stuxnet, the recently discovered Flame virus was created by the United States and Israel and targets Iran’s nuclear program. That writes an American newspaper. Flame would have been used for espionage.

The Flame virus is said to have been used to map Iranian computer networks and return the data, in order to prepare for a ‘cyberwarfare campaign’. That writes the renowned American newspaper The Washington Post based on unnamed ‘officials’.

The American intelligence services NSA and CIA are said to be behind the development of the espionage virus together with the Israeli army; it was part of the same program as Stuxnet’s development, according to The Washington Post. Recently, The New York Times revealed that Israel and the United States were behind Stuxnet, which had been suspected for some time.

Flame could, among other things, activate microphones and webcams, act as a keylogger, take screenshots and receive commands via Bluetooth. Unlike Flame, Stuxnet was used to actually sabotage Iran’s nuclear program, by disrupting centrifuges in nuclear facilities. Kaspersky previously discovered a connection between the two Trojans.

The existence of the Flame virus came to light at the end of last month, after IT security officer Kaspersky analyzed the virus. Perhaps the company was approached by Iran. The Flame virus, believed to have been deployed since 2010, allegedly betrayed its existence when it was deployed by Israel to Iran’s oil ministry. The United States would not have been aware of this, writes The Washington Post.