TEHRAN - Iranian information technology officials have confirmed that some Iranian industrial systems have been targeted by a cyber attack, but added that Iranian engineers are capable of rooting out the problem.

According to Associated Press, a complex computer worm dubbed Stuxnet has infected many industrial sites in Iran and is capable of taking over power plants.
The director of the Information Technology Council of the Industries and Mines Ministry has announced that the IP addresses of 30,000 industrial computer systems infected by this malware have been detected, the Mehr New Agency reported on Saturday.
“An electronic war has been launched against Iran,” Mahmoud Liaii added.
“This computer worm is designed to transfer data about production lines from our industrial plants to (locations) outside of the country,” he said.
He also announced that a working group composed of representatives from the Communications and Information Technology Ministry, the Industries and Mines Ministry, and the Passive Defense Organization has been set up to find ways to combat the spyware.
Communications and Information Technology Minister Reza Taqipour stated that Iranian engineers possess the expertise to create the required anti-virus software to clean the malware-infected systems.
Taqipour also said that no crashes or serious damage to the country’s industrial computer systems have been reported so far.
Stuxnet is a computer worm that attacks industrial systems and spies on them and reprograms them.
Reportedly, a state may have been involved in creating it and using it against Iran.
Kevin Hogan, the senior director of security response at Symantec, told Reuters on Friday that 60 percent of the computers worldwide infected by the so-called Stuxnet worm are in Iran, which indicates that the country’s industrial plants were the original target.
“It’s pretty clear that, based on the infection behavior, that installations in Iran are being targeted,” Hogan said