Lockheed Martin detected a significant and tenacious attack on its information systems network, the company said in a statement late Saturday night. The cyber-assault took place on May 21, and quick action by its security team successfully repelled the attack.
“No customer, programme or employee personal data has been compromised,” the company statement said, adding that federal authorities had been notified. “Throughout the ongoing investigation, Lockheed Martin has continued to keep the appropriate US government agencies informed of our actions,” the company said.
President Barack Obama has been briefed about the attack, White House spokesman Jay Carney said Sunday. “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 US media that the consequences of the attack for the Pentagon and other agencies was “minimal,” and no adverse effect on their operations was expected.
Source: ASD News