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PEOPLE & ARTSThursday 18 February 2016
Director hopes ‘Zero Days’ will
spark debate on cyberwarfare
Alex Gibney, director of the U.S. atomic bomb) was a describes the operation —
FIlm ‘Zero Days’ answers known internally as “Olym-
questions during an interview secret project, but when pic Games” — as small
with The Associated Press at compared to wider contin-
the 2016 Berlinale Film Festival the bombs when off in Hi- gency plans for a cyberat-
in Berlin, Germany, Wednes- tack on Iran known as “Ni-
day, Feb. 17, 2016. roshima and Nagasaki no- tro Zeus.”
Associated Press The CIA declined to com-
body said ‘What bombs? ment on the claims made
FRANK JORDANS in the film, some of which
Associated Press Did bombs drop? We’re have been previously re-
BERLIN (AP) — When ma- ported by the New York
chines at a nuclear plant in shocked,’” he said. Times and the Jerusalem
Iran suddenly began spin- Post. It referred questions
ning out of control six years Even after it became clear to the Office of the Direc-
ago, suspicion quickly fell tor of National Intelligence,
on the United States and that other countries had which didn’t immediately
Israel, especially after a so- respond to a request for
phisticated virus was found not only obtained copies comment.
that appeared to have Some experts believe Stux-
been tailored to sabotage of Stuxnet but used parts net helped spur negotia-
a key process in the enrich- tions toward last year’s nu-
ment of weapons-grade of it in attacks, and the vi- clear accord with Iran. Gib-
uranium. ney thinks the blowback
Computer security experts rus was spreading through resulting from the release
dubbed the virus Stuxnet, of such a sophisticated cy-
describing it as the most computer systems in the berweapon outweighs the
powerful cyberweapon benefits. With Russia, China,
the world had yet seen. United States, the U.S. gov- North Korea and Iran now
While the attack on the believed to be among the
Natanz plant appeared ernment largely refused to countries with major cyber-
to have met its immedi- armies, he thinks it’s time to
ate objective — to disrupt engage in a debate on talk about the implications
Iran’s nuclear weapons of a free-for-all in the field
program — the emer- the pros and cons of cy- of electronic warfare.
gence of Stuxnet was soon “In a world that’s so inter-
compared to the dropping berwarfare, said Gibney. connected, if hospitals go
of the first atomic bomb on down, if water filtration sys-
Hiroshima in 1945 for its abil- “You would expect people tems go down, if electricity
ity to change the course of goes down, suddenly in the
warfare. to keep covert operations modern world those effects
A broad public debate can be catastrophic,” Gib-
about the use of cyber- a secret but once they’re ney told The Associated
weapons has yet to hap- Press.
pen, however, although blown, and particularly Still, the history of interna-
every modern society is tional accords to limit the
vulnerable to attacks on its when they seem to cross use of nuclear, biological
critical infrastructure, says and chemical weapons of-
Alex Gibney, an Academy over into so much physical fers some hope, he said.
Award-winning documen- “One thing we know
tary maker who spent years destruction, at what point about technology, and
investigating the Stuxnet one thing we know about
case for his new film, “Zero does it become almost agreements is that over
Days.” time you learn. You learn
The movie, which pre- nonsensical to not engage how to understand and
mieres at the Berlin Film defend against these
Festival on Wednesday, about those subjects?” weapons, and also how to
traces the origins of Stuxnet figure out how to regulate
to joint U.S.-Israeli efforts to Unlike the case of for- their use,” he said.q
foil Iran’s nuclear weapons
program without resorting mer NSA contractor Ed-
to airstrikes. But interviews
with past and present in- ward Snowden, who ap-
telligence officials in both
countries soon met with a proached journalists with
wall of silence that frustrat-
ed Gibney. classified information
“Obviously the Manhattan
Project (to develop the first about U.S. electronic sur-
veillance programs, Gib-
ney said finding someone
who would talk was “a long
slog.”
“I talked to some friends
of mine who had been in
the Obama administration
and there was a sense of
pretty extraordinary fear of
even talking off the record
about this topic,” he said.
“It was toxic. So it was really
a problem, this one.”
Eventually some in the intel-
ligence community came
forward, according to Gib-
ney. Their identities remains
hidden throughout the film,
masked by an actress who
voices their words.
One, a purported NSA
employee, confirms the
agency “did Stuxnet.” The
anonymous source also
