Over the last two decades, the information technology field has evolved at a rapid rate for a field of work that is quite new in contrast to most service and development sectors that have been in existence. As opposed to these firmly and long-established industries, information technology has attained acceptance in all areas of life, to include personal and business use, with breathtaking speed that it is almost impossible to identify something that does not rely on it. This increased dependency on technology does have limits, though, when analyzing for security to protect users from malicious actors who will attempt to exploit vulnerabilities to access data and information. With incredible amounts of information that is electronically accessible, …show more content…
Infect Windows based computers: Stuxnet, as previously stated, could infect networked and non-networked computers utilizing zero-day exploits and rootkits in multiple versions of the Microsoft Windows operating systems. Stuxnet would also “install[ing] signed drivers on Windows operating systems” (Mueller & Yadegari, 2012) that would make it appear as though it were produced and installed by a reliable software company which provided the means to escape detection by anti-virus software.
2. Check: Stuxnet would then identify whether the affected computer was in fact its target as a controller of industrial systems.
3. Update: If the infected computer was the intended target, Stuxnet would attempt to connect to the Internet where it would be able to receive updates.
4. Compromise: Stuxnet would then exploit zero-day vulnerabilities in the software of the industrial system’s logic controllers that had not previously been identified.
5. Control: Stuxnet would analyze the operations of the targeted system. The information that is gathered is then exploited to allow for the worm to control the physical layer of the industrial system. At this point, the worm would cause the centrifuges to spin at high speeds without slowing