New Stuxnet Like Malware Detected:Global Cyber Warfare

A new cyber espionage program associated to the notorious Flame and Gauss malware has been detected by Russia's Kaspersky Lab. The anti-virus giant’s chief warns that global cyber warfare is in “full swing” and will probably accelerate in 2013.

The virus, named miniFlame, and as well-known as SPE, has by now infected computers Systems in Iran, Lebanon, France, the United States and Lithuania. It was exposed in July 2012 and is defined as “a small and highly flexible malicious program designed to steal data and control infected systems during targeted cyber espionage operations,” Kaspersky Lab said in a statement.

The malware was initially identified as an appendage of Flame – the program used for targeted cyber espionage in the Middle East and acknowledged to be part of mutual US-Israeli efforts to damage Iran’s nuclear program.

But later, Kaspersky Lab analysts learned that miniFlame is an “interoperable tool that could be used as an independent malicious program, or concurrently as a plug-in for both the Flame and Gauss malware.”

The analysis also exposed new evidence of cooperation between the creators of Flame and Gauss, as both viruses can use miniFlame for their operations.

Cockpit of J-20 China's Stealth Fighter

J-20 Cockpit

J-20 Cockpit

China's Z-19 Helicopter In PLA Army Aviation

China's WZ-19 Attack Helicopter 

China's WZ-19 Attack Helicopter 

Shenyang Unveils J-31 China's 2nd 5th Generation Stealth Fighter Jet

China's J-31 Stealth Fighter Jet

 China's Sheyang Aircraft Corporation(SAC) one of the leading aircraft 

design and manufacturing corporations of China’s aviation industry and 

a competitor of Chengdu Aircraft Corporation(CAC) Which is the maker 

of china's first low  observable or stealth Fighter J-20 Black Eagle 

has Unveils its J-31 or J-21 Stealth Fighter Through leaking the 

images of J-21 or J-31 on internet.

China's J-31 Stealth Fighter Jet

The numerous images of the J-31 or J-21 show that the aircraft is very 

different from the large, canard-delta J-20 Black Eagle. The Shenyang 

fighter appears to be much smaller than the J-20, with about two-

thirds as much installed power. It is a quad-tail design with a 

moderately swept clipped-delta wing and large canted vertical tails, 

with a similar overall layout to the Lockheed Martin F-22—but more 

like the F-35A Joint Strike Fighter in terms of overall size. Weapon 

bays occupy the entire lower body aft of the inlets and ahead of the 

engine bays. Flight controls are conventional, with separate rudders 

and single-piece flaperons.

As in the case of the J-20 Black Eagle, most of the stealth-shaping 

techniques are very similar to those on Lockheed Martin fighters, but 

the engine nozzles are conventional. The nozzle shape on the prototype 

is close to that of the Guizhou WS-13 or Klimov RD-93 engine which is  

install on the Chengdu JF-17 fighter, minus the tapered “collar” that 

fairs the latter's nozzle into the aft fuselage. Thrust vectoring has 

been studied in China but has not yet been demonstrated in flight.

Chinese Naval J-15S Aircraft Carrier Fighter Jet

Chinese Naval J-15S Aircraft Carrier Fighter Jet

China's Aircraft Carrier Outdoes Russia's In Weapon Quality

Cui Yiliang, executive editor of the Modern Ships magazine, answered some questionsabout China's first aircraft carrier, the Liaoning, from registered users of the People'sDaily Online on the morning of Sept. 28.

When asked about the differences between the Liaoning and Russia's aircraft carrier,the Admiral Kuznetsov, Cui said that the Liaoning was refitted from the Varyag, thesister ship of the Admiral Kuznetsov. Both ships were produced by the former SovietUnion. The Admiral Kuznetsov was in fact the first aircraft carrier independently built bythe former Soviet Union, and many of its design flaws were corrected in the Varyag.

Cui said that according to photos published by the media, the Liaoning is quite differentfrom both the Admiral Kuznetsov and the original Varyag. The most marked changesoccurred in their radar and electronic systems as well as defensive weapons. Thephased array radar is a prominent feature of the Admiral Kuznetsov, but was notinstalled on the former Soviet Union's second aircraft carrier, the Varyag, because ofthe radar's unsatisfactory performance. The Liaoning also has a phased array radarsystem, but it was produced by China and must perform better than that on the AdmiralKuznetsov. This is the biggest change.

US House Intelligence Report on Huawei & ZTE

Lawmakers are warning U.S. companies not to do business with two of the world's largest telecommunications equipment makers. The U.S. House of Representatives Intelligence Committee released a report Monday after an 11-month investigation about the business practices of Huawei Technologies and ZTE Corp, Chinese firms that develop and sell telecom communications equipment like routers, handsets and switches. The report recommends that Huawei and ZTE be excluded from expanding their businesses in the U.S. because of cyber espionage risk and connections to the Chinese government.

Committee members said neither Huawei nor ZTE provided ample documents or detailed information to "ameliorate the committee's concerns" about their formal relationships and interaction with Chinese authorities. The investigation determined that Huawei and ZTE present risks to critical U.S. infrastructure that "could undermine core U.S. national-security interests" and therefore the U.S. "should view with suspicion the continued penetration of the U.S. telecommunications market by Chinese telecommunications companies."

"China has the means, opportunity and motive to use telecommunications companies for malicious purposes, " the report said. "Industry giants like Huawei and ZTE provide a wealth of opportunities for Chinese intelligence agencies to insert malicious hardware or software implants into critical telecommunications components and systems. Even if the company's leadership refused such a request, Chinese intelligence services need only recruit working-level technicians or managers in these companies. Further, it appears that under Chinese law, ZTE and Huawei would be obligated to cooperate with any request by the Chinese government to use their systems or access them for malicious purposes under the guise of state security."