Stuxnet -- the "Second Greatest Story Ever Told" *

It has been almost impossible to miss the recent stories in the media, with leadership by the New York Times, about the Stuxnet worm and its impact on the Bashehr and Natanz nuclear enrichment facilities in Iran. There is no official estimate, either from the Iranians or the "purveyors" of Stuxnet, but the worm has no doubt cost the Iranians many billions of dollars and set back their bomb program by many years. The Israelis are privately reporting that the Iranian nuke program has been set back until at least 2015.

The attack had a second salvo, which most casual observers have missed; the Iranian scientists saddled with "fixing" the problem have been targeted by assassins; 2 of 3 attempts have been successful. No doubt this added element of terror has increased the burden on the Iranian government significantly.

The Times observed that the Stuxnet worm, developed by USA and Israel, with implied cooperation from the Germans (Siemens) and a stolen cryptographic key belonging to the Taiwainese, was released with the precision of a Marine sniper targeting an enemy at 2,000 yards. A tremendous amount of damage, and fear, inflicted on an enemy without the delivery of one bomb, missile, or traditional type of ordnance. Also, the impact of this computer worm is in stark contrast with the ineffectiveness of a decade or more of inspections by the United Nations.

There have been a lot of words written, and spoken, about cyber warfare and the threat from the Chinese to the USA. This threat remains very real. However, the Stuxnet worm makes it clear that the first truly successful salvo in cyberwarfare was lobbed by the USA and Israel; it was a direct hit. Stuxnet reveals the power of classified intelligence work. Think of how many lives will have been saved if it forestalls an Iranian nuclear bomb program by 5 years, or stops it altogether. It will be many years before the full value of this incident is known, but I expect that it will be as significant a development as the breaking of Nazi Germany's Enigma code system.

It also amplifies the positive impact of classified funding of national intelligence initiatives. The breadth of the program appears to have been extraordinary.

From a business perspective, therefore, as Congress cancels weapons and homeland security programs (e.g., the Virtual Fence) and cuts back on other traditional defense spending, you can be certain that intel spending will remain strong and vital.

* With credit to Hotair.com for this clever twist of words