Exiled Iranian programmer: 'My life was in danger'

An Iranian computer programmer explains why he fled his native country after his government grew tired of his opposition to its cyber warfare scheming.

By Bill Brenner, Senior Editor

February 07, 2011 — CSO —

A major topic sure to be discussed at RSA Conference 2011 next week is cyber warfare -- specifically, whether or not we're really in the middle of one. Fueling the debate is Stuxnet, a piece of malware widely believed to be the creation of Israel and-or the U.S., designed to attack Iranian nuclear facilities.

Whatever the truth about Stuxnet may be, one researcher wants the world to know Iran is working on cyber weaponry of its own. He knows, because the Iranian government had him working on it before he fled to another country.

Also see "Cyberwar: Is Offense the New Defense?"

He first contacted me in October about his story. I was eager to interview him, but I had to wait for my questions to be answered. He was still getting his residency status squared away in the country he had fled to, and didn't want to jeopardize the proceedings. A week ago, he decided that process was at a point where he could share his story, but requested I keep his name and current country anonymous because of obvious safety concerns. Since October, we've had numerous conversations via Facebook, e-mail and IM. I asked if he would answer some questions if I e-mailed them. He agreed.

What follows are a series of questions I e-mailed him after we first got in touch, along with the answers he gave last week. To the reader, his revelations may not be Earth-shattering. He also doesn't go into explicit detail on Iranian activities. Rather, he talks about what he saw in a very general sense. But it does offer another piece of the puzzle that, when put together with other nuggets of information coming from Iran, hopefully presents a bigger picture.

CSO: Let's start with your background in Iran. Where are you originally from and how did you get into your line of work?
A: I born in Iran, and my passion was computer programming/networking, and I was kind of successful in this line.

Q: Describe the exact work you were doing and how it made you privy to what was going on in the government ?
A: I mostly worked for a private contractor that was working for the government. I was hired to focus on network security, project analysis and programming. I was pretty good at my work and I think that success was what caught the government's attention. They started offering me jobs that involved me with working directly for the government. That was not really my interest, job offers that put other people in danger.

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