The Stars virus is a computer virus discovered by Iran in April 2011. Iran claims it is being used as a tool to commit espionage.[1][2] The Stars virus is currently being studied in a laboratory in Iran - that means, major vendors of antivirus software do not have access to samples and therefore they cannot assess any potential relation to Duqu or Stuxnet.[1][2] Foreign computer experts say they have seen no evidence of the virus, and some even doubt its actual existence.[3] [4] Iran is claiming Stars to be harmful for computer systems. It is said to inflict minor damage in the initial stage and might be mistaken for executive files of governmental organizations.[1][2]
This is the second attack claimed by Iran after Stuxnet computer worm discovered in July 2010 which targeted industrial software and equipment.[5][2]
Researchers from security company Kaspersky believes that Stars virus found by Iranian computer specialists was some form of the Duqu virus[6].
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