Cyberweapon

A cyberweapon is a malware agent employed for military, paramilitary, or intelligence objectives.

General characteristics

Requirements for the term vary widely; the most common criteria seem to be for a malware agent which:

Sponsor

Part of the distinction from other malware is that the agent is sponsored—that is, Is commissioned, developed, and/or actually used—not by a black-hat hacker or organized criminal group, but instead by a state or a non-state actor, the latter potentially including terrorist groups and other entities proposed in 4GW doctrines.

Objectives

A cyberweapon performs an action which would normally require a soldier or spy, and which would be considered either illegal or an act of war if performed directly by a human agent of the sponsor during peacetime. Legal issues include violating the privacy of the target and the sovereignty of its host nation. Such actions include (but are not limited to):

While a cyberweapon almost certainly results in either direct or indirect financial damages to the target group, direct financial gains for the sponsor (such as the transfer of funds) are not a primary objective of this class of agent.

Target

Unlike malware used by script kiddies to organize botnets, where the ownership, physical location, and normal role of the machines attacked is largely irrelevant, cyberweapons show high selectivity in either or both of their employment and their operation. Likewise, malware employed by organized crime for the theft of personal or financial information demonstrates lower selectivity and wider distribution.

Distinctions from Viruses and Other Malware

Note that self-replication is not a requirement; as such, not all cyberweapons are viruses (and not all viruses are necessarily cyberweapons). Without this capability, however, an alternate vector is required to get the agent onto the target system(s). Likewise, compromised access alone, such as that provided by a rootkit, is not diagnostic of the employment of a cyberweapon.

While the term is frequently used by the press (examples [1][2]), some articles avoid it, instead using terms like "Internet weapon" or simply "weapon" (example, though note the URL[3]), mainstream researchers debate the requirements of the term while still referring to the employment of the agent as a "weapon",[4] and the software development community in particular uses the term more rarely.

Probable cyberweapons

The following malware agents generally meet the criteria above, have been formally referred to in this manner by industry security experts, or have been described this way in government or military statements.

Weaponized malware

The following malware agents are known not to have been developed or initially deployed as cyberweapons, but have since been used to meet military or intelligence objectives.

Malware mistaken for cyberweapons

The following malware agents do not meet the criteria above, or are known not to have been developed or deployed specifically as cyberweapons, but have been frequently misidentified as such in the popular press.

References

  1. ↑ "Powerful 'Flame' Cyberweapon Torching Mideast Computers : Discovery News". News.discovery.com. 2012-05-30. Retrieved 2012-12-07.
  2. ↑ "Infosecurity – 2012: The Year Malware Went Nuclear". Infosecurity-magazine.com. Retrieved 2012-12-07.
  3. ↑ Perlroth, Nicole (2012-05-28). "Virus Infects Computers Across Middle East - NYTimes.com". Iran: Bits.blogs.nytimes.com. Retrieved 2012-12-07.
  4. ↑ "Infosecurity – Kaspersky looks at the wreckage of Wiper malware". Infosecurity-magazine.com. 2012-08-29. Retrieved 2012-12-07.

External links

Articles