LONDON  Iran is dealing with a full frontal attack…on its computers. The virus its being hit with, dubbed the “Stuxnet Worm,” is described as a breakthrough in cyber warfare in that it actually facilitates physical damage.

“It can instruct a utility or factory to behave in ways its owner doesn’t want,” Mike Simon, Editor of Computerworld UK magazine told Fox News.

He also describes it as “very specific, it knows what it wants, it is hard to find, and hard to fight.”

Iran has been known to be a target for the last few months. 30,000 computers have been hit.

For the first time this weekend, Iran admitted that its controversial nuclear program has been hit. Personal computers of officials linked to the Bushehr nuclear plant, for example, have been effected. They also claim, though, the actual operating system of the plant has not been compromised…yet.

Could this be dreamed up by a geek in a cluttered second floor bedroom? “No,” says computer expert Simon, “It’s more sophisticated than that.”

Other experts go further, saying the resources of a state would be required to pull this off.

Widespread speculation is centering on Israel. It has the IT manpower and technology. It has the money. And most importantly it has the motive. Israel is deeply concerned about the Bushehr plant. Once running, it could be a key element in a suspected illicit program by Iran to build a nuclear bomb. 

Tellingly the plant is set to start operation next month. A start date which has been postponed since the summer…just when word of the computer virus in Iran started to circulate.

So far though, according to the Fox News bureau in Jerusalem, Israel has said nothing on this…and it not expected to.

And so far, Iran admits, it has not eradicated the dangerous “worm” from its system.