AC/DC Virus Catches Iranian Nuclear Facility Napping

Reports suggest that a piece of software is prompting blasts of AC/DC in the night

Published 24th Jul 2012

A report in Gawker says that a prominent computer security expert has received "a series of emails from Iran" from an Iranian nuclear scientist who o says that he and his fellow scientists were under attack by involuntary blasts of AC/DC, sparked by computer malware.

Mikko Hypponen, lead researcher at the Finnish computer security firm F-Secure, says he was contacted this weekend about a new cyber attack on nuclear research facilities in Iran. He posted the text of one email to his blog:

"I am writing you to inform you that our nuclear program has once again been compromised and attacked by a new worm with exploits which have shut down our automation network at Natanz and another facility Fordo near Qom.

"According to the email our cyber experts sent to our teams, they believe a hacker tool Metasploit was used. The hackers had access to our VPN. The automation network and Siemens hardware were attacked and shut down. I only know very little about these cyber issues as I am scientist not a computer expert.

"There was also some music playing randomly on several of the workstations during the middle of the night with the volume maxed out. I believe it was playing 'Thunderstruck' by AC/DC."

It must be said that at the moment these reports are entirely unconfirmed, but Hypponen did manage to ascertain that the emails originated from Iran's Atomic Energy Organization.

You can read more at Gawker HERE