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AntZ
05-28-2011, 07:08 PM
Lockheed Network Reportedly Suffers Security Breach

Published May 28, 2011

| The Wall Street Journal




Hackers may have infiltrated the networks of top US weapons manufacturer Lockheed Martin Corp., The Wall Street Journal reported Friday, citing a person with knowledge of the attacks.

The security disruptions prompted the company to step up measures to protect its data. It wasn't immediately clear if any sensitive information was stolen or compromised.

Lockheed spokesman Jeffery Adams said the company, as a matter of policy, didn't discuss specific cyber threats or measures taken in response.

"However, to counter any threats, we regularly take actions to increase the security of our systems and to protect our employee, customer and program data," he said. "We have policies and procedures in place to mitigate the cyber threats to our business, and we remain confident in the integrity of our robust, multilayered information systems security."

Lockheed manufactures some of the most sophisticated US military hardware, including the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter and the F-22 Raptor. It is also a major international supplier of military equipment.

According to the person familiar with the situation, many employees were required to change their "SecureID" passwords. The move may have been prompted by an attack from hackers who may have penetrated the company's cyber defenses by using duplicate SecurID electronic keys made by EMC Corp.'s RSA security division.

Remote access to some Lockheed systems was temporarily disabled as a result, this person said.

Lockheed sent 90,000 replacement SecureIDs to employees, which is being paid for by RSA, this person said. Employees were also told to reset all of their passwords used throughout the entire company as a precaution.

EMC in March disclosed that it had been hit by a sophisticated cyber attack on its SecurID products, which are widely used by corporate clients.

Network and computer-security issues have taken on heightened importance in recent weeks after a high-profile hack of several Sony Corp. systems led to a breach of personal information. The breach included the names and addresses associated with more than 100 million accounts.

Deepsepia
05-29-2011, 12:50 AM
Very, very troubling. The Chinese (and I assume its the Chinese, but I suppose the Russians might also be capable of this) are going after everything. Generally, the classified stuff is kept on separate systems not generally accessible from outside networks, but that's not %100.

Southern Belle
05-29-2011, 02:41 AM
How can this happen in this day and time with the technology that's available. Are the government contractors not using the best security measures available to protect important information because it affects profits? Just saying......
I know they're making a killing by being government contractors and it's coming out of our pockets grrrrrrrrrrrrrrr

Loser
05-29-2011, 03:21 AM
How can this happen in this day and time with the technology that's available. Are the government contractors not using the best security measures available to protect important information because it affects profits? Just saying......
I know they're making a killing by being government contractors and it's coming out of our pockets grrrrrrrrrrrrrrr

It wasn't really a problem on the governments end. More so RSA security.


who may have penetrated the company's cyber defenses by using duplicate SecurID electronic keys made by EMC Corp.'s RSA security division.

Those keys change codes every 30-60 seconds based on a mathematical algorithm. So that means the hackers got either duplicate keys from someone at RSA, or cracked that algorithm. Either way, it looks seriously horrible when a security firm fails this badly.

Deepsepia
05-29-2011, 05:58 AM
How can this happen in this day and time with the technology that's available. Are the government contractors not using the best security measures available to protect important information because it affects profits? Just saying......
I know they're making a killing by being government contractors and it's coming out of our pockets grrrrrrrrrrrrrrr

Is a good question-- Loser's answers are right, I'd just add: security is hard, any flaw can be exploited to corrupt the entire system.

In this case, the keys are "strong" but the hackers were able to break into the repository that "serves" the keys.

So by my reading, they didn't actually "crack" the keys-- they stole access to the computations which created the keys.

Kinda like me stealing your driver's license, or copying it . . . its not a "forgery" -- its a real license, so it really works . . . its just being used by the wrong person.

Godfather
05-29-2011, 07:09 PM
I bet every penny I have China is behind this....

deebakes
05-30-2011, 04:11 AM
it was me :oops:

Arkady Renko
05-30-2011, 12:57 PM
it was me :oops:

and...? did you find the porn stash?

deebakes
05-30-2011, 07:04 PM
tons! :tup: