The Russian Kaspersky detected a cyber-weapon aimed the Iran

The Russian specialist of the fight antivirus Kaspersky Lab has identified a cyber-weapon used against countries such as Iran, probably for the benefit of the West and of Israel, a virus from a sophistication as it requires the cooperation of a State.

The malicious software, known as the Flame, "is currently used as a cyber-weapon against a series of country" and for the purposes of "cyber-espionage", stated the Russian society, one of the world's leading manufacturers of anti-virus, in a press release available on Tuesday on his site. "The geography of targets (some States are in the Middle East ) as well as the sophistication of the threat is no doubt in the fact that it is a State which has sponsored the research", has added Kaspersky Lab. Among the most affected countries: Iran, Israel and Palestine, the Sudan, Syria, Lebanon, Saudi Arabia and Egypt, according to the Russian specialist. This virus, detected in the context of an investigation launched by the International Telecommunication Union (ITU), has a potential of infiltration uneven, being able to use at the same time a multitude of ways. "Once a system is infected, Flame begins a complex series of operations", such as the screen shots, of the records via a micro of audio conversations, or even the use of Bluetooth to identify the devices around, detailed Kaspersky Lab. The virus is "a gigantic set of modules" that deploy gradually in the infected systems. "The dates of creation of the files are 1992, 1994, 1995 etc, but it is clear that they are false", added Kaspersky, who believes that the virus has been created "not before 2010 ". "The footprints left by this kind of targeted attacks are extremely low", explained to the AFP Laurent Heslault, director of security strategies at Symantec, editor of the Norton software. They are carried out by "organized groups, finance, who expect to it goes up the track. And therefore they have all done for the scramble". According to the western media, Flame would have been used to attack the Iranian Ministry of Oil and the main oil terminal of this country. Iran has been the target for two years to several computer attacks that the Iranian leaders have attributed to the United States and Israel, the two declared enemies of the regime in Tehran. The Iranian coordination center for the fight against computer attacks has also indicated Tuesday have managed to produce an anti-virus software against Flame. End of April, a top Iranian official had said that the Ministry of Oil was reached to stop a virus that had struck a portion of its computer network. In 2010, another virus had been discovered, Stuxnet, which was intended to delay the Iranian nuclear program by attacking the centrifuges. According to the media, it could have been developed through the collaboration of Israeli intelligence and Americans. Tehran had then had to defend themselves against another virus called "Duqu". On Tuesday, the Israeli Minister of Strategic Affairs Moshe Yaalon has justified the use of such viruses in order to counter the iranian nuclear threat, supplying the speculation on a possible involvement of his country in Flame. "It is justified, for anyone who considers the iranian threat as significant, to take various measures, including this one, for the stop", said Mr. Yaalon to military radio. "Israel is at the leading edge in the new technologies and the tools we offer all kinds of possibilities", added Mr. Yaalon. According to Kaspersky, Flame far exceeds all other viruses already known, and is "twenty times more important than Stuxnet". This marked a new step" in the information warfare, said Yevgeny Kaspersky, director general.