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Stuxnet Virus Inspires James Bond Movie Skyfall

Khurram Aziz

The latest offering in the James Bond film franchise, Skyfall, sees star Daniel Craig going up against a hi-tech villain - a character inspired by the Stuxnet Virus, which attacked Iran's nuclear facilities, according to producers.

In an interview with FoxNews.com, Michael Wilson said, "There is a cyberwar that has been going on for some time, and we thought we'd bring that into the fore and let people see how it could be going on."

Stuxnet, discovered in 2010, took cyberwarfare to new heights as the first computer worm that spies on and subverts industrial systems.

Designed to be spread by Microsoft Windows, it targets Siemens industrial software and equipment which Iran is said to have secretly acquired despite an embargo, to power its nuclear program.

The virus disabled Iranian nuclear facilities by ordering centrifuges to ignore safeguards and spin fast enough to break. Stuxnet is widely believed to be a joint US and Israeli creation, though neither country has admitted involvement.

The focus on cyber-terrorism is a departure from the norm for Bond, who has over 50 years fought villains armed with sophisticated weapons, such as machine-gun toting cars and laser-armed watches.

But this Bond is given no such luxuries. Instead 'Q' hands the character a slim briefcase filled with the most basic of spy tools.

"It's a brave new world," says Q, a character played by 32-year-old British actor Ben Whishaw.

Barbara Broccoli, the other half of the production duo responsible for the film, told Fox, "The reality is, yes we all use technology and technology is very helpful, but ultimately it does come down to human beings out in the field doing things that require extraordinary guts and commitment."

The villain in Skyfall is played by Oscar-winner Javier Bardem, a rogue MI6 agent who hacks the government's computers and threatens to publicly release the cover identities of embedded agents around the world.

"Rig an election in Uganda? Just point and click. Bring down a multinational by manipulating stock prices? Done," Bardem's character Silva says in the film.

Skyfall is the 23rd film in the James Bond series and is directed by Sam Mendes. It's been on release nationwide since October 23, which also happened to be the 50th anniversary of the release of the first Bond film, Dr No.

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