Flame, Stuxnet virus creators ‘co-operated at least once’ in early stages of development

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London, June 12: Creators of computer espionage viruses, the Flame and Stuxnet worked together in the early stages of each threat’s development, according to a Russian security company.

Flame, revealed last month, attacked targets in Iran, so did Stuxnet, which was discovered in 2010.

Russia’s Kaspersky Lab said they co-operated ‘at least once’ to share source code, the BBC reports.

“What we have found is very strong evidence that Stuxnet/Duqu and Flame cyber-weapons are connected,” Alexander Gostev, chief security expert at the firm said.

“The new findings that reveal how the teams shared source code of at least one module in the early stages of development prove that the groups co-operated at least once,” Gostev added.

Vitaly Kamluk, the firm’s chief malware expert, pointed out that people behind these viruses ‘are two different teams working with each other, helping each other at different stages’.

According to Kaspersky, the findings relate to the discovery of ‘Resource 207′, a module found in early versions of the Stuxnet malware.

It bears a ‘striking resemblance’ to code used in Flame, the security firm said. (ANI)