An attack on Iran's nuclear research programme has revealed the future face of cyber war, a leading computer science professor.

James Hendler is a professor of computer science at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute told the Washington Post that Mosad's attacks against Iran's nuclear program may give greater insight into how cyberwar actually will work.

The attacks were revealed in the Ha'aretz newspaper. They show that Israeli intelligence sought to systematically insert malware that can damage information systems within the Iranian nuclear program. Instead of an Internet based attack the malware was inserted into equipment sold to the Iranian government. Hendler said that the strategy was the opposite of the malware that builds botnets by seeking low-hanging fruit.

Chinese hackers reportedly have infiltrated computers and manipulated them to remove sensitive documents, log keystrokes and trigger Web cameras. But these capabilities can't operate for a substantial length of time on a secure Intranet is an open question. Any malware that entered a sensitive system might have a short life span and its designers would need to consider carefully how best to use this window. Alternatively, this malware may be embedded for long periods of time and activated when needed, he said.