How bad was the cyber attack on Lockheed Martin?

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Lockheed Martin – one of the world’s biggest military and aerospace companies and the Pentagon's top supplier – came under a “significant and tenacious” cyber attack last week, it has emerged in the past few days. The company said it detected the attack almost immediately and managed to stop it before any critical data was compromised.

Although it appears the attack had limited impact on the Department of Defense, it may indicate that cyber espionage is evolving and could become more of a serious threat to governments and companies in the near future.

“It certainly seems at face value like either a state-sponsored attack, or an attack by well-funded hackers with the intent to market whatever information can be extracted internationally to other governments,” writes Tony Bradley, a PC World columnist. “Malware has evolved from a trivial, script-kiddie nuisance, to a professional crime syndicate, and now into a tool for precision corporate and government espionage.”

The Defense Department and the Department of Homeland Security are working to determine the extent of the attack and investigating ways to ensure that similar attacks do not happen in the future, reports Radio Free Europe.

“No customer, program, or employee personal data has been compromised,” said Lockheed Martin in a press release on Saturday. “The team continues to work around the clock to restore employee access to the network, while maintaining the highest level of security.”

Scarce details

Aside from acknowledging the attack, which took place on May 21, Lockheed Martin and the US government have provided no details about the incident. It remains unclear where it originated and even Internet security experts with government ties say they have little information about the attack.

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