Can computer hackers get inside your mind?
Summary
Planet Money investigates "Fast 16," a sophisticated cyber weapon discovered by security researcher Juan Andres Guerrero Saade. The malware subtly corrupted high-precision math in physics software, likely sabotaging Iran’s nuclear program by driving scientists to doubt their own calculations. This episode explores the concept of epistemological warfare and compares Fast 16 to the famous Stuxnet attack.
Topics discussed
Sponsor message from Synchrony Bank
Introduction to the invisible cyber war with Iran
Meet Jags: The cyber paleontologist
The mystery of Fast 16 and the NSA leak
Show intro and sponsor messages
Stuxnet: The mother of all cyber-sabotage operations
Using AI to reverse engineer Fast 16
Fast 16 targets high-precision math calculations
Sponsor messages from Schwab, LinkedIn, and BetterHelp
Identifying the target: LS-DYNA and nuclear physics
How Fast 16 sabotaged nuclear simulations
Unknowns: Who built it and did it work?
Epistemological warfare and trusting reality
Outro, credits, and final sponsor messages
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