Cybersecurity firm: Israel used spyware to target hotels hosting Iran nuclear talks

Kaspersky Lab
(Image credit: Alexander Zemlianichenko Jr./Bloomberg via Getty Images)

On Wednesday, cybersecurity firm Kaspersky Lab is releasing a report suggesting that Israel used a sophisticated electronic virus to eavesdrop on sensitive Iran nuclear negotiations at three luxury hotels, The Wall Street Journal reports. Kaspersky doesn't identify Israel by name, as is its custom, but it drops sly hints in its report. And "the spyware, the firm has now concluded, was an improved version of Duqu, a virus first identified by cybersecurity experts in 2011," The Journal reports. "Current and former U.S. officials and many cybersecurity experts believe Duqu was designed to carry out Israel's most sensitive intelligence-collection operations.

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Peter Weber, The Week US

Peter has worked as a news and culture writer and editor at The Week since the site's launch in 2008. He covers politics, world affairs, religion and cultural currents. His journalism career began as a copy editor at a financial newswire and has included editorial positions at The New York Times Magazine, Facts on File, and Oregon State University.