Andy Greenberg

@[email protected]
10.2K Followers
180 Following
703 Posts
Writer for WIRED. Author of SANDWORM. New book, TRACERS IN THE DARK: The Global Hunt for the Crime Lords of Cryptocurrency, out now. [email protected]
Website:https://andygreenberg.net/
WIRED page:https://www.wired.com/author/andy-greenberg/
Birdsite:https://twitter.com/a_greenberg
Bluesky:@agreenberg.bksy.social
Andy GreenbergApr 24
Show threadAndy GreenbergApr 23
Regardless of whether Fast16 was used against Iran—which remains just a theory—it rewrites the history of cybersabotage operations. And should maybe change our ideas, too, of who can/should trust the results of life-critical calculations on their computers.
Andy GreenbergApr 24
Show threadAndy GreenbergApr 23
One of the types of code it appears designed to target is the modeling program LS-DYNA. Significantly, LS-DYNA has been used by Iranian research scientists who may have contributed to nuclear weapons research. Problems like modeling the properties of different explosives that can trigger warheads.
Andy GreenbergApr 24
Show threadAndy GreenbergApr 23
Now he and his colleague Vitaly Kamluk have cracked it: Fast16 is designed to spread on networks, then tamper with the processes of specific calculation software that models complex physical phenomena, everything from oil spills to bird/airplane collisions.
Andy GreenbergApr 24
Show threadAndy GreenbergApr 23
Only in 2019 did @juanandres_gs find the actual code for Fast16, which dated all the way back to 2005, through some clever hunting on the malware repository VirusTotal. It took seven more years for anyone to figure out what it actually did.
Andy GreenbergApr 24
Show threadAndy GreenbergApr 23
Fast16 has been a mystery since it was named in the ShadowBrokers leak of NSA tools in 2017: A program that advised agency hackers how to deal with other malware they encountered merely notes for Fast16: "NOTHING TO SEE HERE - CARRY ON," suggesting it was a created by the US or a friendly country.
Andy GreenbergApr 24
Andy GreenbergApr 23
A newly decoded piece of sabotage malware called Fast16, created even before Stuxnet, was designed to silently tamper with/corrupt calculations in research and engineering software. Likely created by the US or an ally, and possibly used against Iran's nuclear program. https://www.wired.com/story/fast16-malware-stuxnet-precursor-iran-nuclear-attack/
Newly Deciphered Sabotage Malware May Have Targeted Iran’s Nuclear Program—and Predates Stuxnet

Researchers have finally cracked Fast16, mysterious code capable of silently tampering with calculation and simulation software. It was created in 2005—and likely deployed by the US or an ally.

WIRED
Show threadAndy GreenbergApr 23
Regardless of whether Fast16 was used against Iran—which remains just a theory—it rewrites the history of cybersabotage operations. And should maybe change our ideas, too, of who can/should trust the results of life-critical calculations on their computers.
Show threadAndy GreenbergApr 23
One of the types of code it appears designed to target is the modeling program LS-DYNA. Significantly, LS-DYNA has been used by Iranian research scientists who may have contributed to nuclear weapons research. Problems like modeling the properties of different explosives that can trigger warheads.
Show threadAndy GreenbergApr 23
Now he and his colleague Vitaly Kamluk have cracked it: Fast16 is designed to spread on networks, then tamper with the processes of specific calculation software that models complex physical phenomena, everything from oil spills to bird/airplane collisions.
Show threadAndy GreenbergApr 23
Only in 2019 did @juanandres_gs find the actual code for Fast16, which dated all the way back to 2005, through some clever hunting on the malware repository VirusTotal. It took seven more years for anyone to figure out what it actually did.