Former top US general probed over leaks about Stuxnet virus used in Iran cyberattack

A retired four-star Marine Corps general who served as the second-ranking military officer in the US is being probed about a leak of information concerning a covert US-Israeli cyberattack on Iran's nuclear programme.

General James "Hoss" Cartwright was deputy chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff and was part of Barack Obama's inner circle on critical national security issues before he retired in 2011.

A senior administration official said Cartwright is suspected of revealing information about a highly classified bid to use a computer virus - later dubbed Stuxnet - to sabotage equipment in Iranian nuclear enrichment plants.

Stuxnet was part of a broader cybercampaign called "Olympic Games" that was disclosed by The New York Times last year as one of the first major efforts by the US to use computer code as a destructive weapon against a key adversary.

Cartwright, who helped launch that campaign under George W. Bush and pushed for its escalation under Obama, was recently informed he was a "target" of a wide-ranging Justice Department probe into the leak, said the senior official, who wished to remain anonymous.

Neither Cartwright nor his attorney, former White House counsel Greg Craig, responded to requests for comment.