We were in a cyber war with Iran. Kim Zetter unravels the story of Stuxnet, the US computer attack on Iran’s nuclear program in Countdown to Zero Day.
A few months ago, I read A Time to Attack urging a US military attack on Iran. That book highlighted how Iran had been building a nuclear program for several years. That included several years of centrifuges spinning to extract enriched uranium.
It has taken so long to extract uranium because, according to Zetter, the United States has been running a sophisticated attack on the computer systems that run those centrifuges. The United States and Israel planted sophisticated tools on those computers designed to alter the speeds of the centrifuges and the flow of gas into and out of them.
We have entered an age where warfare can been broken into digital attacks and kinetic attacks. Computer geeks and fighter jocks can both engage with the enemy. Stuxnet was a replacement for dropping bombs on the enrichment facilities.
Zero day refers to an attack using a previously unknown computer security vulnerability. One attack detailed in Countdown to Zero Day used a “god-mode exploit” that was even more potent. For anyone involved in cybersecurity, the book may make you want to curl up in a ball and hide in the corner.
The book is well-written and well-researched. It’s always great to grab a book like this that is enjoyable to read and able to explain complicated situations.
There is a compliance and ethics side to the book and the story of stuxnet. The US government has been touting the importance of securing critical infrastructure. The Securities and Exchange Commission has firing a warning that it takes cybersecurity very seriously. But according to Zetter, the government also has a stockpile of cyber weapons designed to attack those systems. Late in the book it raises the issue of whether cyber attacks should be treated as an act of war. Should Iran be able to retaliate with conventional weapons to protect itself from cyber attacks?
The publisher kindly sent me an advance reader copy of the book in hopes of me writing a review. Countdown to Zero Day goes on sale on November 11.