The F-35 Lightning II Unknown hackers have broken into the security networks of Lockheed Martin and several other US military contractors, a source with direct knowledge of the attacks told Reuters.
It was not immediately clear what kind of data, if any, was stolen by the hackers. But the networks of Lockheed and other military contractors contain sensitive data on future weapons systems as well as military technology currently used in battles in Iraq and Afghanistan. Weapons makers are the latest companies to be breached through sophisticated attacks that have pierced the defences of huge corporations including Sony, Google and EMC.
Security experts say that it is virtually impossible for any company or government agency to build a security network that hackers will be unable to penetrate.
Duplicates
They breached security systems designed to keep out intruders by creating duplicates to "SecurID" electronic keys from EMC Corp's RSA security division, said the person who was not authorised to publicly discuss the matter. The Pentagon, which has about 85,000 military personnel and civilians working on cybersecurity issues worldwide, said it also uses a limited number of the RSA electronic security keys.
The hackers learned how to copy the security keys with data stolen from RSA during a sophisticated attack that EMC disclosed in March, according to the source. EMC declined to comment on the matter, as did executives at major defence contractors.
Rick Moy, president of NSS Labs, said the original attack on RSA was likely targeted at its customers, including military, financial, governmental and other organisations with critical intellectual property.