Is Iran Under Attack Again by the Stuxnet Computer Worm?

TEHRAN, Iran (TheBlaze/AP) — An Iranian semi-official news agency says there has been another cyberattack by the sophisticated computer worm Stuxnet, this time on the industries in the country's south.

Tuesday's report by ISNA quotes provincial civil defense chief Ali Akbar Akhavan as saying the virus targeted a power plant and some other industries in Hormozgan province in recent months.

Akhavan says Iranian computer experts were able to "successfully stop" the worm.

In this photo taken on Monday, Aug. 23, 2010, and released by the International Iran Photo Agency, Iranian technicians work at the Bushehr nuclear power plant, outside the southern city of Bushehr, Iran. Iran's nuclear chief said Tuesday Nov. 23, 2010 that a malicious computer worm known as Stuxnet has not harmed the country's atomic program and accused the West of trying to sabotage it. Reports suggest Iran was attacked by a similar worm more recently. (Photo: AP/IIPA,Ebrahim Norouzi)

Iran has repeatedly claimed defusing cyber worms and malware, including Stuxnet in 2010 and later the Flame virus that targeted the vital oil sector, which provides 80 percent of the country's foreign revenue.

Code from Flame virus that emerged a couple years after Stuxnet. (Photo: Sebastian Widmann/dapd)

Tehran has said both worms are part of a secret U.S.-Israeli program that seeks to destabilize Iran's nuclear program. BBC has more on this perspective in its report:

[...] Akhavan said Iranian industry was constantly being targeted by "enemy cyber attacks" and companies in Hormozgan province had recently been infiltrated, the semi-official Isna news agency reported.

"The Bandar Abbas electricity supply company has come under cyber attack," he told a news conference. "But we were able to prevent its expansion owing to our timely measures and the co-operation of skilled hackers."

n this Saturday, Feb. 3, 2007 file photo, an Iranian technician works at the Uranium Conversion Facility just outside the city of Isfahan. Stealth power of viruses bearing names such as Stuxnet and Flame are now notorious in the world of cyber-sabotage (Photo: /Vahid Salemi, File)

The West suspects Iran is pursuing a nuclear weapons program, a charge Tehran denies.

Related:

• Banks Warned of 'Mass Fraud Campaign' Come Spring
• U.S. Points Finger at Iran for Gas Company Cyberattacks, Defense Secretary Issues Warning
• Report: CIA, NSA and Israeli Military Responsible for 'Flame' Malware Found in Iran

Featured image via Shutterstock.com.