How bad was the cyber attack on Lockheed Martin?

“I think it tells us that DHS doesn’t know much about what’s going on," said Anup Ghosh, a former senior scientist at the Pentagon’s Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency in an article by Al Jazeera.

Hackers may have gained access to Lockheed Martin’s system using a special password generation key produced by EMC Corp.'s RSA security division, reports Market Watch. Last March, the company said hackers had attacked their systems related to the security keys. The keys are used by a number of government agencies and security conscious corporations.

RSA tried to remedy the breech by replacing people’s security code generation keys, reports Bloomberg. The keys expire every three years. Major defense contractors, including Northrop Grumman Corp and Raytheon are among the company’s other users.

Another breach in 2009

Hackers managed to break into Lockheed Martin’s system in 2009. They reportedly accessed computers with information about the F-35 fighter jet program, reports Haaretz. The program is projected to cost more than $380 billion and is the most expensive Pentagon arms purchase.

Cyber security issues have been becoming increasingly high profile, since hackers broke into the Sony PlayStation network in April, compromising the information of more than 100 million users and costing Sony and credit card companies an estimated $1 to $2 billion.

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