Stuxnet and other big worms and viruses

The computer virus is growing in popularity as the weapon-of-choice in the Middle East. Here’s a look at some of the more notable viruses and worms.

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Flame

A close-up of code contained in the Flame virus. The virus has been spotted in Iran, Israel, the Palestinian territories, Syria and Lebanon. The virus is one of the most sophisticated ever developed, able to activate computer microphones, log keystrokes and steal data, among other capabilities. Given its size, some have posited that the virus could have only been developed by the United States and Israel, but neither has claimed responsibility for the virus, which was originally reported to the International Telecommunication Union by the Iranian government.

Sebastian Widmann / DAPD

Stuxnet

Iranian technicians work at the nuclear power plant outside of Bushehr, Iran in an Aug. 23, 2010 photo released by the International Iran Photo Agency. That year, Iran's nuclear facilities were sent into turmoil by the malicious computer virus Stuxnet. The New York Times reported on June 1, 2012 that the United States and Israel jointly developed the virus.

Ebrahim Norouzi / Associated Press

<a data-xslt='_http' href='http://www.wired.com/about/press_bios/#chris_anderson'>Chris Anderson</a>, 'Wired' magazine's editor-in-chief, holds an <a data-xslt='_http' href='http://www.wired.com/wired/archive/11.07/slammer.html'>article</a> that appeared in the July 2003 issue of the magazine. The article detailed the code of the Slammer worm, which infected more than 75,000 computers within 10 minutes when it was released Jan. 25, 2003. It slowed traffic for Internet users around the world and brought down the automated teller machine systems. The virus demonstrated the Internet's 'extraordinary vulnerability to that kind of attack.'

Slammer

Chris Anderson, "Wired" magazine's editor-in-chief, holds an article that appeared in the July 2003 issue of the magazine. The article detailed the code of the Slammer worm, which infected more than 75,000 computers within 10 minutes when it was released Jan. 25, 2003. It slowed traffic for Internet users around the world and brought down the automated teller machine systems. The virus demonstrated the Internet's "extraordinary vulnerability to that kind of attack."

Ben Margot / Associated Press

The Morris Worm

Robert Morris Jr. leaves federal court in Syracuse, N.Y., with an unidentified woman on Jan. 22, 1990. Morris was found guilty of computer-tampering laws in connection with a computer virus he created while a student at Cornell University. The eponymous virus, The Morris Worm, was, according to his father (famed mathematician and cryptographer Robert Morris Sr.), “the work of a bored graduate student.” The junior Morris is now a professor at MIT.

Michael J. Okoniewski / Associated Press

Melissa

David L. Smith, center, and his attorney Ed Borden, left, talk to a court official in the courtroom after Smith's hearing at the Monmouth County Courthouse in Freehold, N.J., on April 8, 1999. Smith was accused of, and later admitted to, having created the Melissa e-mail virus. Following his admission, Smith assisted authorities in thwarting other hacking attempts and, in exchange, was granted a lighter sentence.

Daniel Hulshizer / Associated Press

Blaster

Jeffrey Lee Parson, right, walks out of the federal courthouse in Seattle with his lawyers Carol Koller, left, and Nancy Tenney following his sentencing in the Blaster Internet worm case on Jan. 28, 2005. A federal judge took pity on the Minnesota teenager, sentencing him to just 18 months in prison for unleashing a variant of the Blaster Internet worm that crippled more than 48,000 computers in the summer of 2003.

Elaine Thompson / Associated Press

Melissa

Jeffrey Carpenter, left, leader of the Computer Emergency Response Team, and team member Shawn Hernan, center, who battled the outbreak of the Melissa computer virus from the Software Engineering Institute at Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh, relax with the institute's manager of network survivability and supervisor of the response team, Thomas Longstaff, on April 2, 1999.

Gene J. Puskar / Associated Press

ILOVEYOU

Swedish computer experts Fredrik Bjoerck, left, and Johan Ekstrom, right, are shown in their office at Stockholm University on May 6, 2000. Bjoerck, who helped the FBI track down the author of the Melissa virus, said he believed the creator of the "ILOVEYOU" bug was a German exchange student who was bored. He was wrong. The ILOVEYOU virus, which was similar to Melissa, used e-mail with the subject line “I love you” as a conduit to send user names and passwords on infected computers back to the virus’s author. The virus was tracked back to a young Filipino student who was not charged due to there having been no laws in the Philippines to prosecute hackers.

Magnus Johansson / Associated Press

FEATURED PHOTO GALLERIES

A police forensics officer investigates a crime scene where one man was killed in Woolwich, southeast London May 22, 2013. British Prime Minister David Cameron has called a meeting of his government's emergency Cobra security committee after the killing of a man in south London, his office said on Wednesday. REUTERS/Stefan Wermuth (BRITAIN - Tags: CRIME LAW POLITICS TPX IMAGES OF THE DAY)

Terrorism cited in London cleaver attack

Two assailants hacked to death a man reported to be a British soldier on a busy East London street Wednesday afternoon before delivering an pparent...

LONDON, ENGLAND - MAY 21: Statues on display on the Nong Nooch Tropical Botanical Garden in The Great Pavilion at the RHS Chelsea Flower Show on May 21, 2013 in London, England. The Chelsea Flower Show run by the RHS celebrates its 100th birthday this year. (Photo by Oli Scarff/Getty Images)

Photos of the day

Chelsea Flower Show, face transplant in Poland, Oklahoma residents cope with tornado aftermath and more.

ANNAPOLIS, MD - MAY 20: The Herndon Monument Climb is the traditional culmination of plebe year at the United States Naval Academy. The plebes climb to the top of the lard-covered 21 foot high monument and remove the 'dixie cup' hat at the top replacing it with an upperclassman's hat. After completing this, the freshmen are called 'fourth class midshipmen.' This class completed the task in 1 hour 32 minutes and 43 seconds. The hat was placed by Patrick Lien from Orlando. (Photo by Sarah L. Voisin/The Washington Post)

The Herndon Climb

The Herndon Monument climb is the traditional culmination of plebe year at the U.S. Naval Academy.

Lea Bessinger salvages a picture of Jesus as she and her son Josh Bessinger sort through the rubble of the elder Bessinger's tornado-ravaged home Tuesday, May 21, 2013, in Moore, Okla. A huge tornado roared through the Oklahoma City suburb Monday, flattening an entire neighborhoods and destroying an elementary school with a direct blow as children and teachers huddled against winds. (AP Photo/Charlie Riedel)

Tornado near Oklahoma City causes more damage

Rescue workers are searching for survivors after a twister carved a long path of destruction in a suburb of Oklahoma City. It was part of the...

NEW YORK, NY - MAY 21: Ken Marino, Erica Oyama, Ben Stiller, Chris Harrison, and Mike Rosenstein aceept the Webby Award for 'Burning Love' at the 17th Annual Webby Awards at Cipriani Wall Street on May 21, 2013 in New York City. (Photo by Stephen Lovekin/Getty Images for The Webby Awards)

Eye on entertainment

Ben Stiller, Jerry Seinfeld, Emma Stone, 2 Chainz, Tyrese Gibson, Susan Boyle and more.

This combination of Associated Press photos shows left, a neighborhood in Moore, Okla., in ruins on Tuesday, May 4, 1999, after a tornado flattened many houses and buildings in central Oklahoma, and right, flattened houses in Moore on Monday, May 20, 2013. Monday's powerful tornado in suburban Oklahoma City loosely followed the path of a killer twister that slammed the region in May 1999. (AP Photo)

Okla. tornado loosely followed path of 1999 twister

Monday’s powerful tornado in suburban Oklahoma City loosely followed the path of a killer twister that slammed the area in May 1999.

A Burrowing owl tries to perch on a protective rope in a public park in Cooper City, Fla. Monday, May 20, 2013 as rain falls. (AP Photo/J Pat Carter)

Animal views

Fun and fascinating creatures around the world.

A man walks on sulphur and mineral salt formations near Dallol in the Danakil Depression, northern Ethiopia April 22, 2013. The Danakil Depression in Ethiopia is one of the hottest and harshest environments on earth, with an average annual temperature of 94 degrees Fahrenheit (34.4 Celsius). For centuries, merchants have travelled there with caravans of camels to collect salt from the surface of the vast desert basin. The mineral is extracted and shaped into slabs, then loaded onto the animals before being transported back across the desert so that it can be sold around the country. Picture taken April 22, 2013. REUTERS/Siegfried Modola (ETHIOPIA - Tags: BUSINESS SOCIETY TPX IMAGES OF THE DAY)

ATTENTION EDITORS: PICTURE 2 OF 30 FOR PACKAGE 'ETHIOPIA'S ANCIENT SALT TRAIL'
SEARCH 'DANAKIL DEPRESSION' FOR ALL

Ethiopia’s salt trail

For centuries, merchants have traveled to Ethiopia’s Danakil Depression with caravans of camels to collect salt from the surface of the vast desert basin. The mineral is extracted...

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