By Laurie Baron
SAN DIEGO─ Do you remember what Stuxnet is? In 2010 a computer worm caused 2,000 centrifuges to malfunction at the Natanz nuclear enrichment plant in Iran. Officials in Israel and the United States denied responsibility for the sabotage, but hoped it would set back Iran’s nuclear program. When it spread to computers around the world, cyber-security experts analyzed it and surmised the worm was developed and launched by governments not hackers.
Acclaimed documentarian Alex Gibney chronicles the history of Operation Olympic Games, the codename for Stuxnet, and what it portends for the future of cyberwar. The film alternates between newsreel footage, computer generated graphics, and interviews with anonymous insiders, evasive security officials, technical experts, and reporters who covered the story. What emerges is that the Operation was a joint American-Israeli program begun under George Bush and expanded by Barack Obama to hinder Iran’s development of nuclear weapons and thereby preempt an Israeli air strike on Iranian nuclear facilities. Some interviewees accuse Israel of being so anxious about the prospect of a Nuclear Iran that Israeli intelligence upgraded Stuxnet to be more virulent than its original version.
The Zero-Days refers to the four zero-day components of Stuxnet which exploit software vulnerabilities and reprogram the software with no advance indication of their presence. Rarely does a worm contain more than one zero-day element. In the case of Stuxnet, the worm targeted Siemens’ software that controlled the Iranian centrifuges. Stuxnet, however, replicated rapidly and infected computers throughout the world. Once the Iranians identified the worm and removed it, they employed a variant of it against Saudi Aramco and American banks. While Stuxnet delayed Iran’s nuclear program for less than a year, it failed to deter the country’s subsequent escalation of its efforts. Indeed, the movie implies that the Iranian response to Stuxnet provided the incentive for negotiating the 2015 nuclear agreement with Iran.
Many of the interviewees express their concern that Stuxnet ushered in a new era of cyberwar. While world leaders talk about defending against computer attacks, they now possess an offensive weapon that can paralyze any part of a nation’s bureaucratic, economic, military, and transportation infrastructure operated by computer systems. Before this occurs, they recommend that international treaties regulating cyberwar be negotiated.
To be sure, Gibney’s documentary overloads viewers with information, but in ways that are comprehensible. At nearly 2 hours in length, it could have used some editing to avoid repetition. Perhaps repetition is necessary for us to recognize the threat posed by cyberwar.
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Baron is a professor emeritus of history at San Diego State University. He may be contacted at lawrence.baron@sdjewishworld.com. Comments intended for publication in the space below MUST be accompanied by the letter writer’s first and last name and by his/ her city and state of residence (city and country for those outside the United States.)