Characteristics of WebShock virus

Compared with traditional computer viruses, the Shockweb virus does not profit from stealing personal information.

Because it strikes important targets around the world, it has been characterized by some experts as the world's first "cyber weapon" to be put into combat.

The virus does not need an Internet connection to spread. The virus can destroy the core production control computer software used by chemical, power generation and transmission companies around the world, and take over the role of giving orders to other computers in the plant.

The virus is extremely virulent and destructive. The "Shock Net" code is very sophisticated and has two main functions, one is to make Iran's centrifuges run out of control, and the other is to cover up malfunctions and "misrepresent the military situation" by sending back to the management "normal operation" records. The second was to cover up malfunctions and "misrepresent the military situation" by transmitting records back to management as "normal operation," resulting in miscalculations in decision-making. In the February 2011 attack, at least 1/5 of the centrifuges at Iran's Natanz uranium enrichment site were forced to shut down because they were infected with the virus.

Shocknet is well-targeted and has the capability of being a precision-guided "cyber missile". It is a malicious virus written specifically for industrial control systems, able to take advantage of multiple vulnerabilities in Windows and Siemens SIMATICWinCC systems to attack, no longer to spy on intelligence as its own, but according to the instructions, directed to destroy Iran's centrifuges and other key targets.

"Shock Net" adopts a variety of advanced technologies and is highly stealthy. It targets Siemens' SIMATIC WinCC supervisory control and data acquisition (SCADA) systems. Although these systems operate independently of the network, i.e. "offline", as soon as the operator inserts a virus-infected USB flash drive into the USB port of the system, the virus will take control of the system without being noticed (without any other operating requirements or prompts).

The "Shock Net" virus is so complex that computer security experts found, after decompiling the software, that it could not have been created by hackers, but was "the result of research and development by a high-level, state-funded team. The New York Times said that the U.S. and Israeli intelligence agencies worked together to create the "Shock Net" virus.