ABSTRACT
This chapter considers the Stuxnet incident in order to argue that an informational approach offers a more in-depth account of the harm caused by Stuxnet beyond simply its material effects. Stuxnet is widely regarded as having amounted to a use of force primarily because it resulted in physical damage to material objects. The chapter provides a detailed examination of Stuxnet, including its technical design, overall purpose and effects on the nuclear centrifuges at Natanz. In addition to the media attention the incident received, the cyber security community also examined Stuxnet carefully. Stuxnet’s ultimate goal was to undermine Iran’s ability to develop nuclear weapons. Under the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons regime, to which Iran is a party, except for those states that had a nuclear weapons capability in the late 1960s, other member states such as Iran are permitted to use nuclear technology only for peaceful purposes.
