Iran claims Flame virus is already defeated

TEHRAN, Iran (AP) — A senior Iranian official claims Tehran has defeated a powerful computer virus that has unprecedented data-snatching capabilities and can eavesdrop on computer users.

Ali Hakim Javadi, who is Iran’s deputy Minister of Communications and Information Technology, is quoted by the official IRNA news agency as saying Wednesday that Iranian experts have already produced an anti-virus capable of identifying and removing “Flame” from computers.

Iran’s government-run Computer Emergency Response Team Coordination Center has said the Flame virus was focused on espionage.

Javadi did not say whether any Iranian government bodies or industries were affected by the virus.

Copyright 2012 The Associated Press.