Did The Stuxnet Worm Kill India’s INSAT-4B Satellite?

On July 7, 2010, a power glitch in the solar panels of India’s INSAT-4B satellite resulted in 12 of its 24 transponders shutting down. As a result, an estimated 70% of India’s Direct-To-Home (DTH) companies’ customers were without service. India’s DTH operators include Sun TV and state-run Doordarshan and data services of Tata VSNL...


Once it became apparent that INSAT-4B was effectively dead, SunDirect ordered its servicemen to redirect customer satellite dishes to point to ASIASAT-5, a Chinese satellite owned and operated by Asia Satellite Telecommunications Co., Ltd (AsiaSat). AsiaSat’s two primary shareholders are General Electric and China International Trust and Investment Co. (CITIC), a state-owned company. China and India are competing with each other to see who will be the first to land another astronaut on the Moon. China has announced a date of 2025 while India is claiming 2020. More on this at Forbes.com

In "The Story Behind The Stuxnet Virus" Bruce Schneier writes:


The Stuxnet worm was designed and released by a government--the U.S. and Israel are the most common suspects--specifically to attack the Bushehr nuclear power plant in Iran... It combines computer attacks, nuclear power, spy agencies and a country that's a pariah to much of the world. The only problem with the story is that it's almost entirely speculation.


Stuxnet [infects Windows computers] but doesn't actually do anything on those infected Windows computers, because they're not the real target. What Stuxnet looks for is a particular model of Programmable Logic Controller (PLC) made by Siemens (the press often refers to these as SCADA systems, which is technically incorrect). These are small embedded industrial control systems that run all sorts of automated processes: on factory floors, in chemical plants, in oil refineries, at pipelines--and, yes, in nuclear power plants. These PLCs [the kind of Logic Controllers used by ISRO and IRAN's nuclear Agency] are often controlled by computers, and Stuxnet looks for Siemens SIMATIC WinCC/Step 7 controller software.


It's already infected more than 50,000 Windows computers, and Siemens has reported 14 infected control systems, many in Germany. (These numbers were certainly out of date as soon as I typed them.) We don't know of any physical damage Stuxnet has caused, although there are rumors that it was responsible for the failure of India's INSAT-4B satellite in July. We believe that it did infect the Bushehr plant.


More on The Story Behind The Stuxnet Virus http://doiop.com/stuxnet


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