Report: virus found in computers at nuclear talks sites

MOSCOW, June 10 (UPI) -- A cybersecurity firm has traced a virus, believed to be used by Israeli spies, to hotels which hosted the Iran nuclear talks.

Moscow-based Kaspersky Lab ZAO said in a statement Wednesday "Duqu" malware was found in three unnamed hotels immediately prior to talks between the United States and Iran over a proposed nuclear deal. The firm itself was hacked by the malware, developed in Israel and used by Israeli intelligence agencies, and found the hotels' computers were also invaded when it searched for other victims of the scheme.

Venues used for the negotiations include luxury hotels in Lausanne, Montreux and Geneva, Switzerland; Vienna, Austria and Munich, Germany.

Kaspersky did not identify Israel by name as responsible for placement of viruses to enable eavesdropping on conversations and theft of electronic files, but the "Duqu" virus is essentially an Israeli invention which would take years to duplicate, Boldizsar Bencsath, researcher at the Budapest University of Technology and Economics' Laboratory of Cryptography and System Security and discoverer of the original virus in 2011, told the Wall Street Journal. U.S,. intelligence regards the "Duqu" infections as Israeli intelligence operations, the Kaspersky report said.

The newspaper reported in March Israel had spied on the Iran-U.S. talks in 2014.

The virus was also found in computers used at an event honoring the 70th anniversary of the liberation of Nazi concentration camps at Auschwitz, Poland, which was attended by a number of heads of state in January.