IEEE Technology and Society Magazine - Fall 2014 - 18

Table II
(Continued)
Year

Perpetrator

Target

Incident

July 4 - 8,
2009

Unknown - North Korea
has been suggested
since the attacks begin
on the date of a North
Korean missile test
launch and concluded
on the 15th anniversary
of the death of North
Korea's Kim II Sung.

South Korea &
United States

Coordinated attacks against South Korean
and U.S. government and business websites,
including the public websites for the U.S. stock
exchanges: New York Stock Exchange (NYSE)
and NASDAQ.
A botnet built using the early 2004 MyDoom
worm, and rudimentary DDoS attacks were
used. The attacks originated from 86 IP
addresses in 16 countries.

2009 - 2010

Unknown

Iran

Stuxnet, a cyber worm, caused damage to
centrifuges of Iran's nuclear reactors. Stuxnet
attacked and disabled Siemens type Supervisory
Control and Data Acquisition (SCADA) systems
in a manner that disguises the damage from the
operators until it is too late to correct.

greater resources in terms of weapons, money, and
troops. Imagine a drone, not only intercepted, but
also then re-routed back towards its originator. fewer
resources are required, but yet, on the other hand,
increased specialized training is required. Cyberattack for hire is a lucrative business for those who have

been previously overlooked as merely cybercriminals. As noted by many, including Richard Clarke,
former National Coordinator for Security, Infrastructure Protection, and Counterterrorism for the United
States, cybercriminals can become rental cyberwarriors [8]. This easy transition from cybercriminality

Table III
Recent Cyberattacks on Critical Infrastructure

Year

Perpetrator

Target

Cyberattack

2010
[first
discovered]

Unknown

Iran and other parts
of the Middle East

Flame has been described as a backdoor
with Trojan and worm-like characteristics.
Its purpose was to gather information
from infected PCs. After gathering the
information it uploads it to command
and control computers. It is more
complex and is believed to be much
more dangerous than the Stuxnet virus.
Flame can attack critical infrastructure
and the United Nations International
Telecommunications Union has warned
other nations to be on/ the alert for its
appearance [19].

2012

Originated in the
Middle East

United States

For a one week period in September 2012
five major U.S. banks were subjected
to ongoing Distributed Denials of
Service (DDoS) attacks which prohibited
customers from accessing their bank's
website. These attacks were believed to be
part of an ongoing and continuing attack
on the financial sector of the US [20].

2012

"The Cutting
Sword of
Justice" (claimed
responsibility)

Saudi Arabia's state oil
company ARAMCO

The Sharmoon virus infected 30 000
ARAMCO computers is a form of malware
that overwrites the Master Boot Record
(MBO) placing the data with a jpg file,
in this instance, a picture of a burning
American flag [21]-[22].

2012

Unknown

Qatar state owned oil
company RasGas

Sharmoon virus [22].

IEEE TECHNOLOGY AND SOCIETY MAGAZINE

fALL 2014

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of IEEE Technology and Society Magazine - Fall 2014