Analyst's note:  The understanding of this software weapon of destruction continues to grow.

"[...] A malicious computer attack that appears to target Iran's nuclear plants can be modified to wreak havoc on industrial control systems around the world, and represents the most dire cyberthreat known to industry, government officials and experts said Wednesday.

[...] industries are becoming increasingly vulnerable to the so-called Stuxnet worm as they merge networks and computer systems to increase efficiency.

[....] The complex code is not only able to infiltrate and take over systems that control manufacturing and other critical operations, but it has even more sophisticated abilities to silently steal sensitive intellectual property data, experts said.

[....] there were 44,000 unique Stuxnet computer infections worldwide through last week, and 1,600 in the United States. Sixty percent of the infections were in Iran, including several employees' laptops at the Bushehr nuclear plant.

[....] Stuxnet specifically targets businesses that use Windows operating software and a control system designed by Siemens. That combination [...] is used in many critical sectors, from automobile assembly to mixing products such as chemicals.