← Home
Planet Money · June 17, 2026 · 29m

Can computer hackers get inside your mind?

Juan Andres Guerrero Saade
Show Notes

Planet Money investigates a 20-year-old cyber weapon discovered by security researchers that was designed to secretly sabotage Iranian nuclear scientists' calculations—an early act of epistemological warfare. The episode unfolds like a whodunit, following cyber paleontologists who piece together malware fossils and cryptic intelligence leaks, revealing a hidden front in the U.S.-Israel-Iran conflict.

This summary was generated from show notes and public descriptions, not from a full transcript review. Details may contain inaccuracies.

Highlights

•
Sabotaging Nuclear Calculations via Malware as Epistemological Warfare
A 20-year-old cyber weapon was designed to hide on Iranian nuclear scientists' computers and subtly alter their high-precision calculations at critical moments, undermining their nuclear program without physical violence.
ClaudeChatGPTGemini
•
Cyber Paleontology: Excavating Ancient Malware to Uncover Hidden Cyber Conflicts
Security researchers acting as 'cyber paleontologists' unearthed and analyzed a 20-year-old piece of malware, revealing a previously invisible operation in the U.S.-Israel-Iran conflict.
ClaudeChatGPTGemini

Editorial

•
The 'Fast16' Tattoo and Dark Humor in Cybersecurity
Researcher Juan Andres Guerrero Saade commemorated the malware discovery with a tattoo reading 'Fast16 - NOTHING TO SEE HERE, CARRY ON,' reflecting the dark humor common among those who uncover state-level cyber operations.
ClaudeChatGPTGemini

Misc

✧Juan Andres Guerrero Saade (JAGS) has a 'Fast16 - NOTHING TO SEE HERE, CARRY ON' tattoo.
Was this useful?