HBO to dramatize Stuxnet cyber attack in upcoming drama

The Israeli-American cyber attack on Iran will be the focus of a new miniseries.

By AMY SPIRO
Updated: FEBRUARY 20, 2018 04:34
A man holds a laptop computer as cyber code is projected on him (photo credit: KACPER PEMPEL/REUTERS)
A man holds a laptop computer as cyber code is projected on him
(photo credit: KACPER PEMPEL/REUTERS)
Officially, Israel has made no claim of responsibility for the Stuxnet virus that attacked Iran’s nuclear installations in 2010. Unofficially, experts have long believed the Jewish state played a significant role – along with the US – in developing and deploying the cyber weapon.
Zero Days Official Trailer (YouTube/Movieclips Film Festivals & Indie Films)
And now the dramatic tale will make its way to HBO, which is developing a miniseries based on the real-life story. According to Deadline.com, the series – which is based on the 2016 documentary Zero Days by Alex Gibney – will be titled simply Stuxnet.
Gibney will reportedly direct the dramatic adaptation of the film that was ordered by HBO and by Carnival Films, best-known for the Downton Abbey TV series. The filmmaker confirmed via Twitter that the HBO adaptation is taking place but did not say if he was involved.
Gibney’s 2016 documentary made waves at the time for its reporting of many details surrounding the Stuxnet cyberattack.
Zero Days includes interviews with Israeli officials Amos Yadlin – the former head of IDF Military Intelligence Directorate, Minister Yuval Steinitz and reporter Yossi Melman.
Those figures are not surprisingly tight-lipped about the events in question.
“I don’t want to get into the details,” Yadlin says in the film in response to a question about Stuxnet.
Steinitz, at the time the intelligence minister, says: “I don’t want to comment on this. I read it in the newspaper, in the media like you, but I’m unable to elaborate.”
The American sources in the film are equally silent on the matter, including former NSA director Michael Hayden.
Instead, Gibney’s documentary relies on anonymous government sources to tell the purported tale. There’s no word yet on who will be starring in the HBO adaptation, but it’s sure to make for a thrilling show.