A Kaspersky researcher has cracked the password for a server that controlled the infamous Flame malware, according to NetworkWorld. Apparently, analyst Dmitry Bestuzhev was able to do so only hours after Symantec appealed for help in doing so.
More details have been emerging about Flame, which is now strongly suspected to be part of a cyber-espionage operation targeting Iran’s nuclear development facilities. Symantec and Kaspersky Labs said they found evidence that three other undiscovered viruses created by the same group may exist in the wild.
Both companies have also stated that Flame was disguised as a content management system called “Newsforyou.”
Reuters has quouted unnamed U.S. security officials who have said that both Flame and the Stuxnet, another highly sophisticated worm targeted at Iran, were likely developed by a U.S. organization. Others have speculated that Israel was involved.
Symantec and Kaspersky Labs have for their part declined to speculate on what country might be responsible, other than saying a few months ago that those who developed the malware understood English.
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