Flame virus ordered to self destruct

Experts spoke out last night to say that the Flame computer virus has received orders to self destruct.

Symantec said in a blog post last night that the Flame “command-and-control servers sent an updated command to several compromised computers. This command was designed to completely remove (Flame) from the compromised computers.”

The Flame virus has been ‘in the wild' now for two years or more and it has been targeting energy facilities in the Middle East, specifically Iran.

Other expert sources claim that the virus is so sophisticated that a government is behind the creation. Others claim that the US and Israeli security forces are behind the code in the efforts to steal information about Iran's controversial nuclear drive.

Kaspersky Lab have said that the Flame virus is '20 times larger than Stuxnet', the high profile worm which was discovered in 2010 and used to target the Iranian nuclear program.

The Flame virus has infected many computers worldwide, including some home systems.

Analysis of the code has shown that it is ‘old school' by design but the virus has interchangeable software modules which make it extremely potent.

The latest news suggests that the command servers have told the Flame to ‘vanish', leaving no trail that investigators could use to trace back the origins. The self destruct command came after the virus was exposed by Kaspersky a short while ago.

Infected computers received a command to delete files and then cram the disks with random characters to delay and cause problems when trying to recover the initial code.

Flame has been designed to take information from computer networks and pass over information to those controlling the code. It can record keystrokes, use microphones for spying, capture screen images and more. It can also use Bluetooth capabilities to connect with nearby phones and tablets, expanding its information gathering capabilities.

Kitguru says: A deadly virus and one that might never be traced to a source.

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