The War Will Be Digitized

One criticism that many have about our military is that it’s always preparing for the last war. The next war may not be fought on the battlefield but on the Internet. The New York Times has a fascinating account of a joint US/Israeli effort (unconfirmed by either government) to develop a computer virus to disrupt Iran’s nuclear program.

Behind Dimona’s barbed wire, the experts say, Israel has spun nuclear centrifuges virtually identical to Iran’s at Natanz, where Iranian scientists are struggling to enrich uranium. They say Dimona tested the effectiveness of the Stuxnet computer worm, a destructive program that appears to have wiped out roughly a fifth of Iran’s nuclear centrifuges and helped delay, though not destroy, Tehran’s ability to make its first nuclear arms.

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The worm itself now appears to have included two major components. One was designed to send Iran’s nuclear centrifuges spinning wildly out of control. Another seems right out of the movies: The computer program also secretly recorded what normal operations at the nuclear plant looked like, then played those readings back to plant operators, like a pre-recorded security tape in a bank heist, so that it would appear that everything was operating normally while the centrifuges were actually tearing themselves apart.

The attacks were not fully successful: Some parts of Iran’s operations ground to a halt, while others survived, according to the reports of international nuclear inspectors. Nor is it clear the attacks are over: Some experts who have examined the code believe it contains the seeds for yet more versions and assaults.

Perhaps we struck first but we’re probably more vulnerable to this type of warfare than many other countries. Couldn’t the right kind of computer virus cripple our banks or our power grid? It’s a bit scary to think that the winner of the future’s war will be whoever has the better computer geeks.