The effects of hackers who infiltrated a computer security firm in March are still being felt, this time at Lockheed Martin and other defense contractors.

 

EMC Corp’s RSA security division was hacked two months ago, leaving vulnerable numerous government and Fortune 500 companies that had bought RSA’s “SecurID” authentication system that is supposed to protect computer logins. At the time of the computer attack, experts were concerned that hackers might be able to infiltrate the systems of those who had done business with RSA.

 

Lockheed used RSA’s security keys for its networks, which recently were broken into by hackers. Reuters reported that it was unclear what kind of data may have been accessed or stolen at Lockheed, builder of advanced weapons systems for the U.S. military.

 

The news service also reported that “several other U.S. military contractors” had been hacked as well. General Dynamics, Boeing, Northrop Grumman, Raytheon and other defense companies declined to comment on any security breaches linked to the RSA technology.

 

At the time that the RSA breach was first disclosed two months ago, Joel Brenner, national counterintelligence executive during the Bush administration, told Stars and Stripes, “It’s a flanking attack—not a direct attack to steal information—but an attack to steal the keys that unlock a lot of people’s information, I don’t think the public understands yet how grave this attack is. It ranks up there with the worst we’ve seen.”

-Noel Brinkerhoff

 

Exclusive: Hackers Breached U.S. Defense Contractors (by Jim Finkle and Andrea Shalal-Esa, Reuters)

Data Breach at Security Firm Linked to Attack on Lockheed (by Christopher Drew and John Markoff, New York Times)

Pentagon Networks Threatened by Cyber Attack…The Dangers of Outsourcing Security (by Noel Brinkerhoff, AllGov)

Cybersecurity Breach May Leave DOD Networks Exposed (by Chris Carroll, Stars and Stripes)