Lockheed: Little to No Damage from Cyberattack

Lockheed Martin said May 29 it was investigating the source of a major cyber-attack one week ago against its information network, the company said. (see also here about the incident)

“Lockheed Martin detected a significant and tenacious attack on its information systems network,” the company said in a news statement released late May 28.

The company said the cyber-assault took place on May 21, and that quick action by its security team successfully repelled the attack.

“No customer, program or employee personal data has been compromised,” Lockheed’s statement said, adding that federal authorities had been notified.

“Throughout the ongoing investigation, Lockheed Martin has continued to keep the appropriate U.S. government agencies informed of our actions,” the company said.

President Obama has been briefed about the attack, White House spokesman Jay Carney said.

“It has been part of the briefing materials that he has,” Carney said. “My understanding, based on what I’ve seen, is they feel it’s fairly minimal in terms of the damage.”

Lockheed Martin said its officials are working “around the clock to restore employee access to the network, while maintaining the highest level of security.”

It did not mention the suspected source of the cyber-attack.

The company’s information security team detected the attack almost immediately and took what is described as “aggressive actions” to protect all systems and data, the statement added.

The statement said that despite the attack, the company remains confident in the integrity of its “robust, multi-layered information systems security.”

Federal officials, for their part, told U.S. media that the consequences of the attack for the Pentagon and other agencies was “minimal,” and no adverse effect on their operations was expected.

from AFP