Stuxnet, the virus used to damage the Iranian nuclear program, may have originated as far back as 2005 according to research findings from the security firm Symantec (NASDAQ: SYMC). . . Symantec reportedly found an earlier version of the worm called Stuxnet 0.5 that may have been designed five years before the 2010 Stuxnet virus was discovered . . . Stuxnet 0.5 was apparently used against Iran in 2007. . . a Symantec researcher said that the 2007 attempt at sabotage focused on dangerously elevating the pressure of raw uranium gas until Iranian centrifuges in Natanz were damaged . . . the 2010 Stuxnet is believed to have wrecked around 1,000 uranium-enrichment centrifuges at Natanz . . . if the Symantec research is validated it would mean that the Stuxnet program originated during President George W. Bush’s administration as some media outlets have speculated . . . it is unknown, however, if this alleged computer virus project was conducted by the CIA, Israel's Mossad or both intelligence organizations . . . Iran has removed other energy producing facilities from the Internet and announced in December that it successfully fought off enemy cyber-attacks . . . it may be difficult for the designers of Stuxnet to replicate a similar worm for use against other targets that could match the same level of the reported success at Natanz.