NEW: Researchers at SentinelOne decoded malware known as Fast16, the first public mention of which appeared in a 2017 NSA leak. Turns out, it’s a Stuxnet precursor. @agreenberg.bsky.social has the scoop: www.wired.com/story/fast16...
Newly Deciphered Sabotage Malware May Have Targeted Iran’s Nuclear Program—and Predates Stuxnet
Researchers have finally cracked Fast16, mysterious code capable of silently tampering with calculation and simulation software. It was created in 2005—and likely deployed by the US or an ally.
www.wired.com
April 23, 2026 at 10:18 PM
NEW: Researchers at SentinelOne decoded malware known as Fast16, the first public mention of which appeared in a 2017 NSA leak. Turns out, it’s a Stuxnet precursor. @agreenberg.bsky.social has the scoop: www.wired.com/story/fast16...
Exclusive: Fast16 malware has raised questions about what it was designed to do. Researchers at Symantec finally confirm it was subverting software used to simulate nuclear weapons explosions. Nuclear experts also tell me Iran was the likely target and explain how it impacted nuclear weapons tests
Experts Confirm the Fast16 Malware Was Sabotaging Nuclear Weapons Tests, Likely in Iran
Fast16 didn't predate Stuxnet but was contemporaneous with it. It also wasn't aimed at altering nuclear weapons but was simply feeding false data to engineers about the nuclear detonation tests they w...
www.zetter-zeroday.com
May 16, 2026 at 1:16 PM
Exclusive: Fast16 malware has raised questions about what it was designed to do. Researchers at Symantec finally confirm it was subverting software used to simulate nuclear weapons explosions. Nuclear experts also tell me Iran was the likely target and explain how it impacted nuclear weapons tests
Researchers have finally cracked Fast16, mysterious code capable of silently tampering with calculation and simulation software. It was created in 2005—and likely deployed by the US or an ally. www.wired.com/story/fast16...
Newly Deciphered Sabotage Malware May Have Targeted Iran’s Nuclear Program—and Predates Stuxnet
Researchers have finally cracked Fast16, mysterious code capable of silently tampering with calculation and simulation software. It was created in 2005—and likely deployed by the US or an ally.
www.wired.com
April 23, 2026 at 10:01 PM
Researchers have finally cracked Fast16, mysterious code capable of silently tampering with calculation and simulation software. It was created in 2005—and likely deployed by the US or an ally. www.wired.com/story/fast16...
A newly decoded piece of sabotage malware called Fast16, created even before Stuxnet, was designed to silently tamper with/corrupt calculations in research and engineering software. Likely created by the US or an ally, and possibly used against Iran's nuclear program. www.wired.com/story/fast16...
Newly Deciphered Sabotage Malware May Have Targeted Iran’s Nuclear Program—and Predates Stuxnet
Researchers have finally cracked Fast16, mysterious code capable of silently tampering with calculation and simulation software. It was created in 2005—and likely deployed by the US or an ally.
www.wired.com
April 23, 2026 at 10:01 PM
A newly decoded piece of sabotage malware called Fast16, created even before Stuxnet, was designed to silently tamper with/corrupt calculations in research and engineering software. Likely created by the US or an ally, and possibly used against Iran's nuclear program. www.wired.com/story/fast16...
Fast16 and Stuxnet were similar in that they both fed false data to engineers. But Stuxnet also physically altered centrifuges while tricking engineers into believing the devices were fine. New analysis from me also shows the two codes were contemporaneous, not separated by years
Timeline of Iran’s Nuclear Program and the Stuxnet and Fast16 Attacks
Stories about cybersecurity and national security
www.zetter-zeroday.com
May 16, 2026 at 5:10 PM
Fast16 and Stuxnet were similar in that they both fed false data to engineers. But Stuxnet also physically altered centrifuges while tricking engineers into believing the devices were fine. New analysis from me also shows the two codes were contemporaneous, not separated by years
Experts Confirm the Fast16 Malware Was Sabotaging Nuclear Weapons Tests, Likely in Iran www.zetter-zeroday.com/experts-conf...
Experts Confirm the Fast16 Malware Was Sabotaging Nuclear Weapons Tests, Likely in Iran
Fast16 didn't predate Stuxnet but was contemporaneous with it. It also wasn't aimed at altering nuclear weapons but was simply feeding false data to engineers about the nuclear detonation tests they w...
www.zetter-zeroday.com
May 17, 2026 at 4:18 PM
Experts Confirm the Fast16 Malware Was Sabotaging Nuclear Weapons Tests, Likely in Iran www.zetter-zeroday.com/experts-conf...
Fast16 Malware
Researchers have reverse-engineered a piece of malware named Fast16. It's almost certainly state-sponsored, probably US in origin, and was deployed against Iran years before Stuxnet: "...the Fast16 malware was designed to carry out the most subtle form of sabotage ever seen in an…
Researchers have reverse-engineered a piece of malware named Fast16. It's almost certainly state-sponsored, probably US in origin, and was deployed against Iran years before Stuxnet: "...the Fast16 malware was designed to carry out the most subtle form of sabotage ever seen in an…
Fast16 Malware
Researchers have reverse-engineered a piece of malware named Fast16. It's almost certainly state-sponsored, probably US in origin, and was deployed against Iran years before Stuxnet: "...the Fast16 malware was designed to carry out the most subtle form of sabotage ever seen in an in-the-wild malware tool: By automatically spreading across networks and then silently manipulating computation processes in certain software applications that perform high-precision mathematical calculations and simulate physical phenomena, Fast16 can alter the results of those programs to cause failures that range from faulty research results to catastrophic damage to real-world equipment." Another news article. Lots of interesting details at the links.
www.schneier.com
April 30, 2026 at 10:22 AM
Fast16 Malware
Researchers have reverse-engineered a piece of malware named Fast16. It's almost certainly state-sponsored, probably US in origin, and was deployed against Iran years before Stuxnet: "...the Fast16 malware was designed to carry out the most subtle form of sabotage ever seen in an…
Researchers have reverse-engineered a piece of malware named Fast16. It's almost certainly state-sponsored, probably US in origin, and was deployed against Iran years before Stuxnet: "...the Fast16 malware was designed to carry out the most subtle form of sabotage ever seen in an…
Fast16 wasn't aimed at sabotaging nuclear weapons themselves, but was only designed to alter data being fed to engineers from software used to simulate nuclear explosions tests. The goal was to trick engineers into believing their tests were failing to create confusion and slow down weapons program
May 16, 2026 at 1:17 PM
Fast16 wasn't aimed at sabotaging nuclear weapons themselves, but was only designed to alter data being fed to engineers from software used to simulate nuclear explosions tests. The goal was to trick engineers into believing their tests were failing to create confusion and slow down weapons program
Fast16 has been a mystery since it was named in the ShadowBrokers leak of NSA tools in 2017: A program that advised agency hackers how to deal with other malware they encountered merely notes for Fast16: "NOTHING TO SEE HERE - CARRY ON," suggesting it was a created by the US or a friendly country.
April 23, 2026 at 10:37 PM
Fast16 has been a mystery since it was named in the ShadowBrokers leak of NSA tools in 2017: A program that advised agency hackers how to deal with other malware they encountered merely notes for Fast16: "NOTHING TO SEE HERE - CARRY ON," suggesting it was a created by the US or a friendly country.
Researchers 've uncovered a cyber-sabotage platform that predates Stuxnet by at least 1/2 a decade. Sentinel Labs has published a blog on their fast16 revelations, discussing the scope of this state-level tool, which targets select high-precision calculation software, slyly introducing inaccuracies.
Decades-old pre-Stuxnet cyber sabotage tool breaks cover, NSA listed it as 'nothing to see here' — fast16 targeted nuclear reactors, dam design, and other high-precision civil engineering software yea...
Fast16 appears to be at least half a decade older than Stuxnet.
www.tomshardware.com
May 1, 2026 at 11:10 AM
Researchers 've uncovered a cyber-sabotage platform that predates Stuxnet by at least 1/2 a decade. Sentinel Labs has published a blog on their fast16 revelations, discussing the scope of this state-level tool, which targets select high-precision calculation software, slyly introducing inaccuracies.
In this @wired.com video about fast16, @agreenberg.bsky.social walks through the whole arc: A 2005 malware that sat in plain sight, the NSA leak that named it, and what @sentinellabs.bsky.social's Vitaly Kamluk and @jags.bsky.social finally figured out it was doing.
May 6, 2026 at 9:34 PM
In this @wired.com video about fast16, @agreenberg.bsky.social walks through the whole arc: A 2005 malware that sat in plain sight, the NSA leak that named it, and what @sentinellabs.bsky.social's Vitaly Kamluk and @jags.bsky.social finally figured out it was doing.
イランの核兵器実験妨害のため「実験が失敗している」と思い込ませるマルウェア「fast16」
https://gigazine.net/news/20260518-fast16-malware-sabotage-nuclear-test/
https://gigazine.net/news/20260518-fast16-malware-sabotage-nuclear-test/
イランの核兵器実験妨害のため「実験が失敗している」と思い込ませるマルウェア「fast16」
核兵器実験シミュレーションを妨害することを目的として設計されたマルウェア「fast16」の設計意図が判明しました。シミュレーションのデータを改ざんし、実際には成功しているのに「失敗している」と見せかけるマルウェアだったようです。
gigazine.net
May 18, 2026 at 2:40 AM
イランの核兵器実験妨害のため「実験が失敗している」と思い込ませるマルウェア「fast16」
https://gigazine.net/news/20260518-fast16-malware-sabotage-nuclear-test/
https://gigazine.net/news/20260518-fast16-malware-sabotage-nuclear-test/
NEW! We're joined by WIRED writer Andy Greenberg to dig into SentinelLabs' bombshell FAST16 research, a newly deciphered piece of sabotage malware that predates Stuxnet by five years and quietly tampered with physics modeling software likely tied to Iran's nuclear program.
youtu.be/jIr6QdgUodU
youtu.be/jIr6QdgUodU
Cracking the Fast16 sabotage malware mystery
YouTube video by Three Buddy Problem
youtu.be
May 1, 2026 at 1:37 PM
NEW! We're joined by WIRED writer Andy Greenberg to dig into SentinelLabs' bombshell FAST16 research, a newly deciphered piece of sabotage malware that predates Stuxnet by five years and quietly tampered with physics modeling software likely tied to Iran's nuclear program.
youtu.be/jIr6QdgUodU
youtu.be/jIr6QdgUodU
NPR reports a cyberweapon that may have halted #Iran's nuclear ambitions by targeting key scientists, potentially averting #War. #Cyber #Geopolitics #MiddleEast https://www.npr.org/2026/06/17/nx-s1-5859441/computer-malware-security-iran-stuxnet-fast16
Fast16, Stuxnet, Iran, and the lessons of cyber sabotage operations : Planet Money : NPR
The cyber weapon that might have prevented nuclear war.The U.S. and Israel have long been in conflict with Iran over their nuclear development program. Some of that conflict has been out in the open, with bombs and blockades, but some of it has been invisible. Recently some security researchers disc
www.npr.org
June 17, 2026 at 10:22 AM
NPR reports a cyberweapon that may have halted #Iran's nuclear ambitions by targeting key scientists, potentially averting #War. #Cyber #Geopolitics #MiddleEast https://www.npr.org/2026/06/17/nx-s1-5859441/computer-malware-security-iran-stuxnet-fast16
When you think of spy stories, you probably imagine car chases and shootouts. But some of the biggest spy operations happen on computers.
Today, we dive into Stuxnet and the lesser-known Fast16, and what they reveal about our trust in computers.
Today, we dive into Stuxnet and the lesser-known Fast16, and what they reveal about our trust in computers.
buff.ly
June 17, 2026 at 2:53 PM
When you think of spy stories, you probably imagine car chases and shootouts. But some of the biggest spy operations happen on computers.
Today, we dive into Stuxnet and the lesser-known Fast16, and what they reveal about our trust in computers.
Today, we dive into Stuxnet and the lesser-known Fast16, and what they reveal about our trust in computers.
New Article:
Inside America's Pre-Stuxnet Cyber Weapon: What Fast16 Reveals About State-Level Malware
Security Now unpacks the discovery of Fast16, a decades-old NSA-linked malware designed to covertly sabotage nuclear research through subtle code corruption.
Inside America's Pre-Stuxnet Cyber Weapon: What Fast16 Reveals About State-Level Malware
Security Now unpacks the discovery of Fast16, a decades-old NSA-linked malware designed to covertly sabotage nuclear research through subtle code corruption.
Inside America’s Pre-Stuxnet Cyber Weapon: What Fast16 Reveals About State-Level Malware | TWiT.TV
Security Now unpacks the discovery of Fast16, a decades-old NSA-linked malware designed to covertly sabotage nuclear research through subtle code corruption.
twit.tv
April 29, 2026 at 5:05 PM
New Article:
Inside America's Pre-Stuxnet Cyber Weapon: What Fast16 Reveals About State-Level Malware
Security Now unpacks the discovery of Fast16, a decades-old NSA-linked malware designed to covertly sabotage nuclear research through subtle code corruption.
Inside America's Pre-Stuxnet Cyber Weapon: What Fast16 Reveals About State-Level Malware
Security Now unpacks the discovery of Fast16, a decades-old NSA-linked malware designed to covertly sabotage nuclear research through subtle code corruption.
Regardless of whether Fast16 was used against Iran—which remains just a theory—it rewrites the history of cybersabotage operations. And should maybe change our ideas, too, of who can/should trust the results of life-critical calculations on their computers.
April 23, 2026 at 10:37 PM
Regardless of whether Fast16 was used against Iran—which remains just a theory—it rewrites the history of cybersabotage operations. And should maybe change our ideas, too, of who can/should trust the results of life-critical calculations on their computers.
Chinese security firm Antiy has published a report accusing SentinelOne of "psychological warfare" by revealing details of sabotage malware Fast16 right when the US is attacking Iran
Antiy seems to believe the report's release was coordinated with US officials 🤨
www.antiy.net/p/a-psycholo...
Antiy seems to believe the report's release was coordinated with US officials 🤨
www.antiy.net/p/a-psycholo...
A “Psychological Warfare” to Show Off Cyber Capabilities: A Comprehensive Analysis of SentinelOne’s Exposure of fast16 - Antiy Labs | The Next Generation Anti-Virus Engine Innovator
www.antiy.net
May 2, 2026 at 8:48 PM
Chinese security firm Antiy has published a report accusing SentinelOne of "psychological warfare" by revealing details of sabotage malware Fast16 right when the US is attacking Iran
Antiy seems to believe the report's release was coordinated with US officials 🤨
www.antiy.net/p/a-psycholo...
Antiy seems to believe the report's release was coordinated with US officials 🤨
www.antiy.net/p/a-psycholo...
Experts Confirm the Fast16 Malware Was Sabotaging Nuclear Weapons Tests, Likely in Iran
Experts Confirm the Fast16 Malware Was Sabotaging Nuclear Weapons Tests, Likely in Iran
www.zetter-zeroday.com
May 16, 2026 at 1:15 PM
Experts Confirm the Fast16 Malware Was Sabotaging Nuclear Weapons Tests, Likely in Iran
Fascinating Sunday morning read... Reminds me of the Pentium FPU bug
hackingpassion.com/fast16-pre-s...
hackingpassion.com/fast16-pre-s...
Fast16: The Cyberweapon That Predates Stuxnet by Five Years
For 21 years, fast16 corrupted nuclear research calculations without anyone noticing. It predates Stuxnet by five years. The math was always wrong.
hackingpassion.com
April 26, 2026 at 3:28 PM
Fascinating Sunday morning read... Reminds me of the Pentium FPU bug
hackingpassion.com/fast16-pre-s...
hackingpassion.com/fast16-pre-s...
Timeline of Iran’s Nuclear Program and the Stuxnet and Fast16 Attacks
Timeline of Iran’s Nuclear Program and the Stuxnet and Fast16 Attacks
www.zetter-zeroday.com
May 16, 2026 at 1:20 PM
Timeline of Iran’s Nuclear Program and the Stuxnet and Fast16 Attacks
Sounds like a really interesting talk at Black Hat Asia!
Researchers find sabotage malware that may predate Stuxnet
Black Hat Asia: FAST16 could be the first cyberweapon, and its effects could be with us today
www.theregister.com
April 24, 2026 at 7:25 AM
Sounds like a really interesting talk at Black Hat Asia!
Back at about the same time, I was learning to use Flow3D simulation software, whose code originated from IIRC Los Alamos. We believed it would give erroneous results and joked it will call home if you try to simulate certain materials in certain pressure regimes.
www.security.com/threat-intel...
www.security.com/threat-intel...
Fast16: Pre-Stuxnet Sabotage Tool Was Built to Subvert Nuclear Weapons Simulations
New analysis confirms the targeted applications and reveals fast16 was tailored to corrupt uranium-compression simulations central to nuclear weapon design.
www.security.com
May 24, 2026 at 9:53 AM
Back at about the same time, I was learning to use Flow3D simulation software, whose code originated from IIRC Los Alamos. We believed it would give erroneous results and joked it will call home if you try to simulate certain materials in certain pressure regimes.
www.security.com/threat-intel...
www.security.com/threat-intel...
New Podcast Episode:
Security Now: FAST16.SYS
Unmasking the NSA's Most Diabolical Digital Sabotage
with Steve Gibson, @leolaporte.me
Security Now: FAST16.SYS
Unmasking the NSA's Most Diabolical Digital Sabotage
with Steve Gibson, @leolaporte.me
Security Now: FAST16.SYS | TWiT.TV
What if your engineering calculations secretly sabotaged your nation’s best efforts? This week, we reveal how a newly uncovered 21-year-old NSA rootkit quietly corrupted
twit.tv
April 29, 2026 at 3:35 AM
New Podcast Episode:
Security Now: FAST16.SYS
Unmasking the NSA's Most Diabolical Digital Sabotage
with Steve Gibson, @leolaporte.me
Security Now: FAST16.SYS
Unmasking the NSA's Most Diabolical Digital Sabotage
with Steve Gibson, @leolaporte.me
Experts Confirm the Fast16 Malware Was Sabotaging Nuclear Weapons Tests, Likely in Iran
via @kimzetter.bsky.social
via @kimzetter.bsky.social
Experts Confirm the Fast16 Malware Was Sabotaging Nuclear Weapons Tests, Likely in Iran
Fast16 didn't predate Stuxnet but was contemporaneous with it. It also wasn't aimed at altering nuclear weapons but was simply feeding false data to engineers about the nuclear detonation tests they w...
www.zetter-zeroday.com
May 16, 2026 at 5:50 PM
Experts Confirm the Fast16 Malware Was Sabotaging Nuclear Weapons Tests, Likely in Iran
via @kimzetter.bsky.social
via @kimzetter.bsky.social