Computer code in new Star Trek series turns out to be from Stuxnet-GitHub

In the latest installment of the Star Trek series Discovery, protagonist Michael Burnham must investigate computer code. That code can be seen briefly and appears to come from a GitHub repo that is said to contain decompiled Stuxnet code.

The code was spotted by the Moviecode site, which is trying to trace the origin of code shown in movies and series. The site links to a GitHub repository that contains a Hex Rays dump of the Stuxnet source code, claims the uploader. The file’s readme was recently updated and points to the particular episode.

Apparently it’s not the first time this repository has been used as inspiration for displaying code on a screen. A few months ago, attentive viewers of the Homeland series noticed that a piece of code had also been reused there. In the Star Trek episode itself, the code probably means nothing, as there doesn’t seem to be any reason to involve Stuxnet.

Stuxnet is malware that was developed to penetrate the uranium enrichment plant near Iran’s Natanz and damage centrifuges there. Using this code in TV shows seems like a pretty safe bet, as the authors aren’t likely to claim the rights anytime soon.

The code in question