Israel and Iran on brink of virus-borne confrontation

AMID growing speculation about a possible Israeli assault on Iran's nuclear facilities, evidence has emerged to suggest the two countries are on the brink of a different kind of war: one fought not with aircraft, tanks and soldiers but with cybermissiles and logic bombs.

For decades, the possibility of a cyberwar has fascinated experts. After land, sea and air engagements, battles in cyberspace could require the rewriting of military doctrines for an era in which a country could be brought to its knees by a few strokes of a laptop. That moment appears to have arrived.

According to security experts, a computer worm that has infested Iran's Bushehr nuclear plant was launched by another state. It has disrupted the production of nuclear material, proving that a cybermissile can have as much impact as an airstrike. Like the US and Britain, two other big players on the cyber block, Israel will not say anything about the paternity of the so-called Stuxnet worm, even if its officials are privately celebrating another setback to Iran's nuclear ambitions.