Firms across the world have been put on alert by the discovery of new computer virus which shares many characteristics with the Stuxnet malware which targeted industrial sites last year.

Internet security experts Symantec says some of its customers have reported finding the virus spying on, but as yet not vandalising, their IT infrastructure. The information garnered is being sent back to an anonymous location in India, with the virus is programmed to remove itself from the systems it infiltrates after 36 days.
‘Duqu’, as the new virus has been christened by Symantec, is “extremely sophisticated” and “cutting edge”, according to one of the company’s leading experts, and could be a “precursor” for a another Stuxnet-like attack.

Stuxnet sent many industrial sites’ systems into chaos last year, including that of a nuclear plant in Iran which is believed to have been its main target. It targeted control systems made by German company Siemens which are commonly used in things like water, oil and power plants.

According to another leading security company, MacAfee, the instances of the virus have been “primarily centered on the Middle East, then India, Africa and Eastern Europe.”
Speculation persist that the US or Israeli governments were behind the attack.
As the new virus is similar in its coding to Stuxnet, Symantec says its creators probably have had access to the original source code.

The security companies stress that individual and small scale computer systems are not at risk of infection.