Iran Foreign Ministry spokeswoman says Islamic Republic concerned by cybersecurity report

A Foreign Ministry spokeswoman in Iran says the Islamic Republic is concerned by a Russian cybersecurity firm's report suggesting a new family of malicious programs and worms is infecting computers there and elsewhere in the world.

Without naming the United States as the source of the malware, the report by Kaspersky Lab said one of the programs has elements in common with the so-called Stuxnet worm, which the New York Times and Washington Post have said was developed by the U.S. and Israeli governments to disrupt Iranian nuclear facilities.

Speaking to journalists Wednesday, Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Marzieh Afkham suggested countries affected should talk about fighting the malware.

She said: "The Islamic Republic of Iran pays great attention to this matter because we are one of the targets of (cyber) espionage."