TEHRAN, Iran - A computer worm complex, capable of taking control of industrial plants has affected the personal computers of staff working on Iran's first nuclear power plant weeks before the installation is to go online, the agency new official reported Sunday.
The project manager at the Bushehr nuclear power plant, Mahmoud Jafari, said a team trying to remove malware from multiple affected computers, even if it "did not cause major damage to systems of plant, "the news agency IRNA.
It was the first sign that the malicious computer code, dubbed Stuxnet, which has spread to many industries in Iran, has also affected equipment related to the country's nuclear program, which is at the heart of the dispute between Tehran and the powers Western United States as the United States.
Experts in Germany has discovered the worm in July, and since he has shown in a number of attacks - mainly in Iran, Indonesia, India and the U.S.
The malicious code is capable of supporting the systems that control the internal operation of industrial facilities.
In a sign of the high level of concern in Iran, experts from the agency's nuclear countries met last week to discuss ways to fight against the worm.
Infection of several computers belonging to workers at Bushehr will not affect plans to bring the plant online in October, Jafari was quoted as saying.
The Russian-built factory will be under international supervision, but world powers fear that Iran wants to use other aspects of its civilian nuclear program as cover for weapons production. The greatest concern for world powers to Iran is main facility to enrich uranium in the city of Natanz.
Iran, which denies having nuclear weapons ambitions, says it wants to enrich uranium to levels lower than required to produce fuel for power plants. At higher levels of processing, the material can also be used in nuclear warheads.
Stuxnet destructive worm has surprised experts because it is the first specifically created to support the industrial control systems, rather than to steal or manipulate data.
The United States is also monitoring the worm, and the Department of Homeland Security is the creation of special teams that can respond quickly to emergencies in cyber industrial facilities across the country.
On Saturday, Iran's semi-official ISNA news reported that the malware has spread across Iran, but did not name specific sites involved.
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