Reporter who uncovered the Stuxnet computer worm to speak at URI

Providence Journal

SOUTH KINGSTOWN, R.I. _ An award-winning journalist and author known for her investigative work on the computer worm that compromised Iran’s nuclear program will speak Tuesday, Sept. 23 at 7:30 p.m. at the University of Rhode Island.

Journalist Kim Zetter will speak in Edwards Hall, 64 Upper College Road, on the Kingston campus, is part of URI’s 2014 Honors Colloquium, “Cybersecurity & Privacy.” Her talk will be free and open to the public.

Zetter’s talk, titled, “Stuxnet and The World’s First Digital Weapon,” will address the Stuxnet worm that helped slow Iran’s nuclear program.

Her new book, “Countdown to Zero Day,” provides extensive details on the first known instance of cyber warfare.

Her presentation will examine how Stuxnet was designed and then planted in computers in Iran. She will also discuss the vulnerability of the United States and other countries to a copycat attack.

In 2010, a security firm discovered a worm that infected computers in Iran causing them to crash.

Zetter’s book title comes from the worms’ ingenious zero-day capability to spread, but appear as if it was generic malware. It was later discovered that the goal of the worm was to undermine equipment in Iran’s nuclear program.

It was the first case of digital code being used for physical destruction. The worm was named Stuxnet.

Zero day is a term applied to a previously undiscovered computer virus or worm, which handcuffs programmers by giving them no time to respond.

The presenting sponsor for the entire colloquium is Cox Business. For more information on Zetter’s presentation, visit URI's web site.