BETHESDA, Md. — The Department of Homeland Security on Saturday confirmed that top US weapons manufacturer Lockheed Martin Corp. was hit with a “cyber incident.”
The department said it had offered to help Lockheed investigate the incident, news agency Reuters reported. The Defense Department had also made an offer to help.
A report emerged Thursday that hackers may have infiltrated the weapons manufacturer’s networks.
The security disruptions prompted the company to step up measures to protect its data, according to a person with knowledge of the attacks cited by the Wall Street Journal. It was not immediately clear if any sensitive information was stolen or compromised.
Lockheed spokesman Jeffery Adams said the company, as a matter of policy, did not discuss specific cyber threats or measures taken in response.
“However, to counter any threats, we regularly take actions to increase the security of our systems and to protect our employee, customer and program data,” he said. “We have policies and procedures in place to mitigate the cyber threats to our business, and we remain confident in the integrity of our robust, multilayered information systems security.”
Lockheed manufactures some of the most sophisticated US military hardware, including the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter and the F-22 Raptor. It is also a major international supplier of military equipment.
Citing a person familiar with the situation, the WSJ reported that many employees were required to change their “SecurID” passwords. The move may have been prompted by an attack from hackers who may have penetrated the company’s cyber defenses by using duplicate SecurID electronic keys made by EMC Corp.’s RSA security division.
Remote access to some Lockheed systems was temporarily disabled as a result, this person said. Lockheed sent 90,000 replacement SecurIDs to employees, which is being paid for by RSA, this person said. Employees were also told to reset all of their passwords used throughout the entire company as a precaution.
EMC in March disclosed that it had been hit by a sophisticated cyber attack on its SecurID products, which are widely used by corporate clients.
Network and computer security issues have taken on heightened importance in recent weeks after a high-profile hack of several Sony Corp. systems led to a breach of personal information. The breach included the names and addresses associated with more than 100 million accounts.