In 1982, a Soviet pipeline suddenly exploded with the force of a tactical nuclear weapon, and the disaster was traced back to a stolen piece of Canadian pipeline software — and years later, it was revealed the CIA had intentionally allowed the KGB to steal the code, after subtly altering the software's logic to trigger a catastrophic pressure surge months down the line. (opens in new tab)

The story goes something like this. In June 1982, deep in Siberia, a natural gas pipeline operated by the Soviet Union suddenly exploded with a force estimated at three kilotons — comparable to a small tactical nuclear weapon, large enough to be seen by US satellites in orbit. American intelligence officials, watching the fireball bloom […]