Timeline
The series of events leading to the discovery of Stuxnet.
-
.jpg?h=2b1617e2c86de0e369622352ad58b498)
September, 2007
Natanz Fuel Enrichment Plant Opens
The Natanz Fuel Enrichment Plant was opened near the city of Natanz, in the Isfahan province of Iran. On opening, 160 centrifuges were operating, with 1000 more under construction.
-
12/05/2009
Centrifuge Failures
About 2 years after opening the facility, technicians noticed that several of the centrifuges were spinning faster than they were designed for, and breaking as a result. They contacted cybersecurity experts at Kaspersky, a Belarusian firm.
-
17/06/2010
Stuxnet Discovered
Over a year later, a worm was discovered lurking on the computers that ran the centrifuges, as well as on other critical infrastructure projects around the world.
On the 30th of July, Eric Chien published a detailed analysis of the worm, naming it “Stuxnet” after binaries found in the codebase. -
November 2010 - August 2011
Bombings and Explosions
A few months after the Stuxnet dossier, Iran's top nuclear scientists are the targets of street bombings.
9 months later, a major oil pipeline in Iran explodes.