Is anyone surprised to learn that, according to unnamed government sources familiar with the matter, the Flame spyware was a joint effort of both the United States and the Israelis? The malware was developed to spy on Iranian networks in preparation for a cyber-sabotage campaign. The project was a joint effort by the CIA, NSA and the Israeli military.

It was the same project as Stuxnet - Malware designed to attack the Siemens Control systems used in Iranian power plants. Kaspersky, the Anti-virus vendor, had already discovered clues suggesting that Stuxnet and Flame were related. According to the Washington Post's source, a "former high-ranking US intelligence official", Flame and Stuxnet were part of an ongoing "broader assault" on "an adversary of the United States". Representatives of the CIA, NSA, and the Israeli embassy in Washington declined to comment on the paper's report.

Flame was discovered in May by anti-virus experts from Kaspersky Lab. Among other things, the malware was able to tap into the microphone and webcams of an infected computer as well as log keyboard input and take screenshots of the system.