Stuxnet is a hugely complex piece of code already, and it's something that needed to be as bug free as possible, and that means avoiding unnecessary complexity.
A key part of being a software developer is knowing when to make trade-offs rather than striving for "perfection".
The virus did it's complex job successfully. Building a piece of software of this complexity that has to work in an unknown environment first time is amazing.
Being a software developer and being an exploit developer are two entirely different things. Professional exploit developers DO NOT ship unless it's perfect. Malware authors will ship even if it's not perfect, because the target is not technically advanced and can get away with it. If you're targeting a nation-state, you best not compromise your intent, how you broke in, nor how long you've been there for.
Comments
Stuxnet is a hugely complex piece of code already, and it's something that needed to be as bug free as possible, and that means avoiding unnecessary complexity.
A key part of being a software developer is knowing when to make trade-offs rather than striving for "perfection".
The virus did it's complex job successfully. Building a piece of software of this complexity that has to work in an unknown environment first time is amazing.
Being a software developer and being an exploit developer are two entirely different things. Professional exploit developers DO NOT ship unless it's perfect. Malware authors will ship even if it's not perfect, because the target is not technically advanced and can get away with it. If you're targeting a nation-state, you best not compromise your intent, how you broke in, nor how long you've been there for.
Yes, that is the exact point of this article.