Obama admits to US role in Flame worm

The Obama Administration took a highly unusual decision to admit that it had played a significant role, along with Israel, in the production of the highly sophisticated computer worm called W32.Flame. The worm specifically targeted computers in Iran and was designed to act as a cyberspy, passing details of files back through the Internet. It was strongly suspected that the US and Israeli governments were behind the worm although an explicit admission surprised many and led to concerns about the diplomatic impact. The reason for the admission, many feel, is that the US is in an election year and President Obama is likely to be attacked for not taking a harder line with Iran. Claiming credit for the cyberattack may provide a shield for such attacks.