By Barry Eitel
SAN FRANCISCO
A computer virus connected to Israel targeted three hotels that hosted high-level diplomatic talks between the United States, Iran and world powers, according to a new report from cybersecurity experts released Wednesday.
The virus in question is known as Duqu and was first identified in 2011. Many U.S. officials and tech experts believe the bug was created by the Israel government for highly sensitive cyber-espionage.
Security software firm Kaspersky Lab ZAO noticed that it was the victim of an improved version of the Duqu virus earlier this year. Kaspersky desired to figure out who else was a victim of the hacking and launched a massive investigation. The investigators found that the virus targeted computer systems in Western Europe, Asia and the Middle East.
The most prominent victims were three luxury hotels that served as venues for the recent P5+1 negotiations with Iran over the Islamic republic’s nuclear program. Thousands of other hotels were tested for Duqu and Kaspersky found no evidence of the virus, which the firm claims is one of the “most skilled, mysterious and powerful threat actors in the APT [advanced persistent threat] world.”
Kaspersky notes that it is certain its clients and partners are safe.
“Spying on cybersecurity companies is a very dangerous tendency,” said Kaspersky CEO Eugene Kaspersky in the report. “Security software is the last frontier of protection for businesses and customers in the modern world, where hardware and network equipment can be compromised. Moreover, sooner or later technologies implemented in similar targeted attacks will be examined and utilized by terrorists and professional cybercriminals. And that is an extremely serious and possible scenario.”
Kaspersky believes Duqu targeted far more systems than it has discovered in its preliminary investigation. Another notable attack occurred on computer systems connected to the 70th anniversary event of the liberation of Auschwitz-Birkenau concentration camp in January, where many high-profile diplomats were in attendance.
