IAEA Member Countries Facing Cyber Threats, Agency should do more, Says Iran

Iran has indicated to IAEA (International Atomic Energy Agency) a world establishment, which caters to maintaining nuclear energy usage in a peaceful manner, to do more for tackling cyber assault threats lurking on nuclear plants installed in countries that are members of the agency, published tehrantimes.com in news on July 2, 2013.

The comment comes from Ali Asghar Soltanieh, Ambassador of Iran deputed at United Nations Nuclear Agency when he was in Vienna, of late, attending a global summit related to nuclear security.

Soltanieh stated that cyber assaults executed on nuclear plants as well as schemes, other than resulting in basic damage, caused danger to people's health as well as tranquility of the environment. Therefore, Iran urged IAEA for raising its initiatives towards increasing awareness as cyber attacks became more threatening and potentially impacted the security of nuclear energy, while also enhance global teamwork towards lessening such attacks, the official added. Tehrantimes.com published this.

Soltanieh further added that strategically carried out industrial destruction within the plants was another perilous situation that weakened nuclear security. The agency needed to play an increasingly active role for nuclear plants' along with materials' safeguard, whether they were currently getting used else were utilized earlier, via the formulation of guidelines as well as provision of advices regarding suitable defensive measures, he suggested.

At the conference, Yukiya Amano, Chief of IAEA too stated that the rising Internet assaults under discussion were an extremely vital problem for the agency. Thehindubusinessline.com reported this in news on July 2, 2013.

As known, the Stuxnet worm, uncovered during 2010, was one instance of attack causing technical damage to the nuclear facilities in Iran.

IT security specialists of the West are certain that behind Stuxnet's creation were intelligence agencies of the US and Israel both apprehensive of nuclear weapons getting built in Iran.

A declaration at the ministerial level as well recognized that global nuclear security required being further enhanced. So governments should endorse one international treaty related to domestic nuclear equipments' protection, an agreement, which was signed in 2005, but still unimplemented due to lack of sufficient countries giving their support for it.

» SPAMfighter News - 7/9/2013