--- title: "Someone once hacked Iran’s nuclear program using AC/DC songs on full blast" description: "Cranking AC/DC's \"Thunderstruck\" in the middle of the night, while annoying, certainly isn't as destructive as the Stuxnet virus." date: "2021-04-09" modified: "2025-07-01" authors: - name: "Blake Stilwell" job_title: "Editor-In-Chief, Air Force Veteran" link: "https://www.wearethemighty.com/authors/blake/" url: "https://www.wearethemighty.com/humor/that-time-someone-blasted-acdc-songs/" categories: - "Military News" - "Technology" tags: - "Iran" - "Technology" --- # Someone once hacked Iran’s nuclear program using AC/DC songs on full blast ![ACDC Iran Virus]() *Brian Johnson and Angus Young of AC/DC perform live. (Greetsia Tent/WireImage)* Iran's nuclear scientists and enrichment facilities have been subject to a lot of harassment, threats, and [Israeli car bombs](). While some of the attacks against the nuclear programs were deadly, others were designed to destroy enrichment equipment. Then, there are the computer viruses. In 2012, a handful of scientists at more than one of the Iranian regime's nuclear facilities were (probably) surprised to find a virus had taken over their computers, a virus that caused their computers to turn on at full volume, blasting the arena rock of iconic metal legends AC/DC. ![AD/DC Beavis and Butthead]() *Huh huh. Huh huh. Cool. (MTV/Viacom)* The scientists either aren't AC/DC fans, or the music was just a big surprise to anyone asleep inside the Fordo mountain nuclear enrichment site. Since Western music is illegal in the Islamic Republic, the scientists might have been trying to avoid either prosecution or a really good time. According to [al-Arabiya's ]()[English-language site](), a letter from Iran's atomic scientists was sent to F-Secure Security Labs, a Finnish internet security company, begging for help with the latest computer virus. "I am writing you to inform you that our nuclear program has once again been compromised and attacked by a new worm with exploits which have shut down our automation network at Natanz and another facility Fordo near Qom. There was also some music playing randomly on several of the workstations during the middle of the night with the volume maxed out. I believe it was playing 'Thunderstruck' by AC/DC." The scientist who wrote the email emphasized that he was not a computer technician and didn't know the full extent of what the virus did, but he was apparently familiar with Australian metal bands. This isn't the first time Iranian nuclear sites have been hit with computer viruses in an effort to disrupt the nation's attempts to build nuclear weapons nuclear programs. In 2010, a jointly made U.S.-Israeli virus called "Stuxnet" [devastated Iran's uranium enrichment centers]() and computer software infrastructure without ever playing "Highway to Hell." ![AC/DC Isfahan nuclear strike]() *Maxar satellite image reveals multiple buildings damaged or destroyed at the Isfahan nuclear technology center after the airstrikes. If only they'd given in to the power of rock. (Satellite image (c)2025 Maxar Technologies)* **Read: [The Massive Ordnance Penetrator is a 30,000-pound bunker buster bomb]()** The Stuxnet virus represented a significant leap in virus technology, marking the first time a virus caused physical damage to systems. It sabotaged centrifuges, sent false data to operators, altered the code that regulated automated industrial processes, and infected USB drives to spread to other air-gapped nuclear sites or systems. It was a dirty deed, done dirt cheap; one that shook Iran all night long. Playing "Thunderstruck" at full volume in the middle of the night, while annoying, certainly isn't as destructive as the Stuxnet virus. That such malicious logic (as it's known to military IT professionals) could penetrate Iran's nuclear program so soon after the Stuxnet debacle goes to show how vulnerable the program really was. Or used to be, if multiple Massive Ordnance Penetrators did their job. It's probably for the best that Iran [ultimately reached a deal](), even if it was only for a short time. ## Don’t Miss the Best of Mighty News We Are The Mighty is a celebration of military service, with a mission to entertain, inform, and inspire those who serve and those who support them. We are made by and for current service members, veterans, spouses, family members, and civilians who want to be part of this community. Keep up with the best in military culture and entertainment: [subscribe to the We Are The Mighty newsletter](). - ‘[Day of the Jackal’ author Frederick Forsyth dies at age 86]() - [That time a Marine general led a fictional Iran against the US military – and won]() - [Sig Sauer’s P320 banned by Chicago Police Department and other law enforcement agencies]() ## Author Blake Stilwell is We Are The Mighty's Editor-in-Chief, covering military news, entertainment, and history, along with veteran education, employment and entrepreneurship. He is a former U.S. Air Force combat cameraman with degrees in Graphic Design, Television and Film, International Relations, Public Relations, Business Management and Middle Eastern Affairs. After leaving the military, he began working in film and television production in New York and Los Angeles, work that included ABC News, NBC Olympics, and HBO Sports. He then spent two years in Washington with White House Communications, before joining the Near East Foundation. At NEF he served as an International Development Fellow, then Communications Officer, and finally, Media Officer for the Middle East and Africa. Based in the Palestinian Territory, he coordinated strategic communications between eight country offices, international media, and government and NGO partners. He began a career focused on writing and editing in 2015 with We Are The Mighty. He left in 2019 for Military.com, but returned as Editor-in-Chief in 2025. Blake’s work has been seen on CBS News, Fox News, CBC, The Chicago Tribune, Task & Purpose, Military Times, Recoil, Skillset, American History, and was shockingly even used in a Supreme Court argument. He is an avid traveler and small business owner in Ohio, where he spends most of his energy fixing up a very old house. ### Author social links [Facebook]() [Twitter]() [Instagram]() [LinkedIn]()