Flame Virus Looms in Debate Over Regulation of Internet

The Flame computer virus unleashed in Iran and other Middle Eastern countries is being described as unusually large and powerful. Some experts, though, are questioning the seriousness of the threat.

A Russian-based computer security firm, Kaspersky Lab, found that the Flame virus could record keystrokes, capture screenshots, and record conversations using microphones built into computers.

The greater part of the infected computers were in Iran.

"We think that this is one of the rare examples of (a) cyber weapon, and it actually illustrates the fact that there are some cyber warfare operations going on there secretly," said Vitaly Kamluk, Kaspersky's chief malware expert.