Moshe Yaalon(right) handing an award of excellence to Sgt. 1st Class Yaniel Hanuch, an NCO from the Ashdod Arena of the Israeli Navy. Photo: wiki commons.

Moshe Yaalon, the Vice Prime Minister of Israel, inferred that Israel may have been involved in spreading the computer virus known as “Flame”, which mainly targeted Iran, but also effected Sudan, Lebanon, Israel, Syria and the Palestinian territories.

“Whoever sees the Iranian threat as a meaningful threat – it is reasonable he would take various measures, including this one,” Yaalon told Israeli radio on Tuesday.

“Israel has been blessed with being a state rich in top level high-tech. These tools that we take pride in open up various possibilities for us,” he added.

Kapersky Lab, the anti-virus firm that uncovered “Flame”, says the discovery is much larger than “Stuxnet”, a 2010 virus that targeted Iran’s nuclear infrastructure.

Flame is “actively being used as a cyberweapon attacking entities in several countries,” Kaspersky said in a statement. It is “one of the most advanced and complete attack-toolkits ever discovered.”

“The complexity and functionality of the newly discovered malicious programme exceed those of all other cyber menaces known to date,” it added.