Iran: Did Siemens Grow a Conscience?

In an interesting column in PajamasMedia entitled "Cyber War on Iran: the Siemens Connection", Roger L. Simon suggests that Siemens might have assisted Israel in infecting Iranian industrial facilities with Stuxnet. Mr. Simon writes:

"In all likelihood Israel did not act entirely alone — there were too many moving parts to this attack — and I am going now to suggest another ally — the German electronics giant Siemens AG."

http://pajamasmedia.com/rogerlsimon/2010/09/25/cyber-war-on-iran-the-siemens-connection/?singlepage=true

Again, it is of no interest to me who is ultimately responsible for the "deed". However, regarding Siemens, I would observe the following information from a Reuters January 2010 article:

"Siemens, which is Europe's biggest engineering conglomerate, was aware of the sensitivities attached to doing business in Iran, Chief Executive Peter Loescher said.

'Some time ago, we reduced our business activities with customers in Iran,' Loescher said, responding to questions at a shareholders meeting.

The Siemens board decided at the start of October not to agree to any further orders with customers in Iran, he added, noting, however, that existing orders would be fulfilled.

Loescher said there were still bids submitted by Siemens before October 2009. If they were not accepted, it would mean new business in Iran would end by mid-2010."

http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSLDE60P1LJ20100126?loomia_ow=t0:s0:a49:g43:r1:c1.000000:b30083910:z0

Or stated more simply, Siemens claims it is terminating its business with Iran, however, it also says that it will continue to fulfill existing orders, and, if its tenders submitted to Iran before October 2009 are accepted, these apparently will also be honored.

Thanks, Siemens, for your kind and very thoughtfully worded assurances.

Siemens, Iran, Stuxnet and a Second Holocaust: Dinner Invitation to Peter Löscher

The news organizations are abuzz with reports that a sophisticated computer worm, Stuxnet, has infected industrial plants across Iran. As reported today by David E. Sanger of The New York Times:

"Stuxnet, which was first publicly identified several months ago, is aimed solely at industrial equipment made by Siemens that controls oil pipelines, electric utilities, nuclear facilities and other large industrial sites. While it is not clear that Iran was the main target — the infection has also been reported in Indonesia, Pakistan, India and elsewhere — a disproportionate number of computers inside Iran appear to have been struck, according to reports by computer security monitors.

Given the sophistication of the worm and its aim at specific industrial systems, many experts believe it is most probably the work of a state, rather than independent hackers. The worm is able to attack computers that are disconnected from the Internet, usually to protect them; in those cases an infected USB drive is plugged into a computer. The worm can then spread itself within a computer network, and possibly to other networks.

. . . .

The fact that the worm is aimed at Siemens equipment is telling: the company’s control systems are used around the world, but have been spotted in many Iranian facilities, say officials and experts who have toured them. Those include the new Bushehr nuclear power plant, built with Russian help."

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/09/26/world/middleeast/26iran.html?_r=1&hp

Everyone is guessing who introduced the worm into the Iranian facilities. Personally, I am more troubled by the involvement of Siemens in the erection of these facilities.

Siemens is no ordinary company:

• Siemens funded the rise of the Nazi party.
• Siemens manufacturing facilities, built in close proximity to concentration camps, used slave labor during World War II.
• Siemens helped build V-2 rockets fired at England.

Sixty-five years after the end of World War II and the Holocaust, Siemen's equipment is being used by the nuclear development facilties of a country which is calling for Israel to be wiped off the face of the map.

Peter Löscher, President and CEO of Siemens, I would like to invite you for dinner with my family, and perhaps you would care to stare into my children's eyes and explain exactly why Siemens has sold equipment to Iran that is being used to realize that country's frightening nuclear ambitions.