After Flame and Gauss strike, MiniFlame takes aim

So far, Kaspersky researchers have discovered six strains of MiniFlame malware. They believe development began as far back as 2007. Variations of the malware have been detected in Iran, Kuwait, Qatar, Lebanon and Palestine.

In a Monday blog post, Symantec also confirmed that it discovered an additional module of Flame that could operate independently of the malware.

“The samples appear to have remained unobserved for so long due to their highly targeted nature; however one more of those protocols has been identified and found to be in use,” said the blog post. “That protocol is for a module that can operate independently of [Flame].”

Flame and Gauss are believed to be creations of the United States.

In the blog post, Kaspersky said that the discovery of MiniFlame uncovers more details about the highly orchestrated spy campaigns, but that a lot more remains to be seen.

“With Flame, Gauss and MiniFlame, we have probably only scratched the surface of the massive cyber-spy operations in the Middle East,” the post said. “Their true, full purpose remains obscure, and the identity of the victims and attackers remain unknown.”