Pentagon IT supplier Lockheed Martin suffers cyber-attack

‘Significant and tenacious’ attempt made to breach information systems network Lockheed Martin, the US government’s top IT provider, has thwarted a “significant and tenacious” cyber-attack made on its information systems network. A spokeswoman said no personal data had been compromised, thanks to “almost immediate” protective action taken after the attack was detected on 21 May. She said the company, the world’s biggest aerospace company and the Pentagon’s top supplier by sales, was working around the clock to restore employee access to the targeted network while maintaining the highest security level. There has been no information about where the attack may have originated. The US defence department said it was working with Lockheed to determine the scope of the attack. US air force Lieutenant Colonel April Cunningham said the incident’s impact on the department was “minimal and we don’t expect any adverse effect”. She declined to specify the nature of the impact. Lockheed makes the F-16, F-22 and F-35 fighter jets as well as warships and other multibillion-dollar arms systems sold worldwide. Military contractors’ systems contain technical specifications on weapons under development as well as those in use. A homeland security official said the US government had offered to help Lockheed analyse “available data in order to provide recommendations to mitigate further risk”. A person with direct knowledge told Reuters on Friday that unknown attackers had broken into sensitive networks of Lockheed and several other US military contractors. Boeing and Northrop Grumman, the Pentagon’s other leading suppliers, declined to discuss matters involving corporate security. Data and computer security Computing Hacking United States US military US national security guardian.co.uk

Posted by on May 29, 2011. Filed under News, Politics, World News. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.