When the Stuxnet worm was identified in June of 2010, the payload and complexity of the worm astonished the security community. Some went so far as to suggest that the malware may have been crafted by a superior extraterrestrial intelligence. Now, in the past few weeks, we’ve gotten confirmation that plain old earthlings were the culprits – specifically, agents of the United States government targeting Iranian nuclear facilities.

Via books and articles and informants, we’re beginning to learn that former President Bush started this program. It was then taken over and accelerated by President Obama. With assistance from the Israelis, the worm was planted into the control systems of centrifuges at the Iranian Natanz nuclear facility. The level of planning, the work and sheer genius that went into the Stuxnet worm are astounding. The execution, the coupling of HUMINT and ELINT was done with such skill that no one doubts the involvement of both the CIA and Mossad.

This NYT article details the effort, determination and skill of the hackers that created Stuxnet, along with the incredible level of cooperation between countries and industries. I can only think of one historical comparison: the Manhattan Project. Logically, that makes the deployment of Stuxnet at Natanz the cyber warfare version of Hiroshima. The U.S.  retained its status as the sole nuclear superpower for only 3 years after Hiroshima; I assure you, in the information age, we don’t have that much time.

The Stuxnet attack on Natanz represented an incredible escalation in a global cyber war. Unfortunately, this war has no clear battlegrounds. Like the war on terror, its targets will often be the innocent, and victory is far from assured.