Forum Views ()
Forum Replies ()
Read more with google mobile :
Lockheed network suffers major disruption: sources
|
Edition:
U.S.
Article
Comments (0)
Follow Reuters
Facebook
Twitter
RSS
YouTube
Read
Judge voids controversial Wisconsin union law
3:01pm EDT
No smell of human decay in Casey Anthony's trunk: witness
3:09pm EDT
Judge voids Wisconsin's anti-union law
1:52pm EDT
Missing Joplin toddler identified at morgue
|
4:02pm EDT
Hedge fund star calls for Microsoft's Ballmer to go
25 May 2011
Discussed
329
Obama and Netanyahu face tense meeting on Mideast
127
As hours tick by, ”Judgment Day” looks a dud
105
Broadcaster silent as Judgment Day hours tick by
Watched
Ultra-realistic robots test our relationship with machines
Wed, May 25 2011
Scientists revive ancient spider in stunning 3D detail
Tue, May 24 2011
Zynga buzz grows
4:15am EDT
Lockheed network suffers major disruption: sources
Tweet
Share this
By Andrea Shalal-Esa and Jim Finkle
WASHINGTON/BOSTON (Reuters) - Lockheed Martin Corp, the Pentagon's No. 1 supplier, is experiencing a major disruption to its computer systems that could be related to a problem with network security, two sources...
Email
Print
Related News
Sony shares up on forecast, but more hacks found
Tue, May 24 2011
Sony to post $3.2 billion annual loss on tax write-offs
Mon, May 23 2011
Hackers hit Sony sites raising more security issues
Fri, May 20 2011
Sony may resume U.S.-based online games on Tuesday: report
Fri, May 20 2011
LinkedIn share price more than doubles in NYSE debut
Thu, May 19 2011
Analysis & Opinion
How to handle e-statement overload
LinkedIn: The next security breach?
Related Topics
Technology »
Media »
By Andrea Shalal-Esa and Jim Finkle
WASHINGTON/BOSTON |
Thu May 26, 2011 4:24pm EDT
WASHINGTON/BOSTON (Reuters) - Lockheed Martin Corp, the Pentagon's No. 1 supplier, is experiencing a major disruption to its computer systems that could be related to a problem with network security, two sources familiar with the issue said on Thursday.
Lockheed, the biggest provider of information technology to the U.S. government, is grappling with "major internal computer network problems," said one of the sources who was not authorized to publicly discuss the matter.
A second source, who also asked not to be identified, said the issue was "affecting a lot of people" at Lockheed, maker of the stealthy F-22 and F-35 fighter planes and other critical weapons systems.
Lockheed, which employs 133,000 people worldwide and had $45.8 billion in revenues last year, said it does not discuss specific threats or responses as a matter of principle, but regularly took actions to counter threats and ensure security.
"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," said spokesman Jeffery Adams.
Big corporations -- especially government contractors -- keep matters of internal security secret and rarely publicly disclose problems in securing their networks.
Yet companies do occasionally reveal such attacks, sometimes forced by financial disclosure laws or by the large impact on customers.
Sony Corp, for example, last month disclosed that hackers had accessed personal data of some 100 million customers and was forced to shut down its PlayStation Network online gaming system.
The sources said Lockheed employees were still able to use mobile devices to access their company email accounts.
The slowdown began on Sunday after security experts for the company detected an intrusion to the network, according to technology blogger Robert Cringely. He said it involved the use of SecurID tokens that employees use to access Lockheed's internal network from outside its firewall,
A spokesman for EMC Corp, whose RSA division makes the tokens, declined to comment, saying it is company policy to never discuss security issues affecting specific customers.
EMC disclosed in March that hackers had broken into its network and stolen some information related to its SecurIDs. It said that the information could potentially be used to reduce the effectiveness of those devices in securing a customer's network.
Steve Winterfeld, cyber technical lead at TASC, an advanced systems company spun off from Northrop Grumman Corp, said RSA had not provided any details of how hackers broke into its network, which meant the hackers could have used the same method to attack other corporations.
He said TASC and other companies were extremely concerned about the breach, which meant that the SecurID tokens could no longer be viewed as completely secure.
"You have no idea how many people are freaked out right now," Winterfeld told Reuters. "TASC is no longer treating the RSA device as if it were as secure as it was beforehand."
MONITORING CENTER
Loren Thompson, chief operating officer of the Lexington Institute, and a consultant to Lockheed, said the company monitored every node on its vast global computer network from a large operations center in a Maryland suburb near Washington, D.C.
"If it sees signs that the network is being compromised by outsiders it will shut down whole sectors of the network to protect information," Thompson said.
He said Lockheed had advanced networking monitoring tools that gave it a "much better understanding of their systems' status than most other organizations, including the Department of Defense."
He said the incident underscored massive challenges faced by corporate and government computer networks in "an age where everybody has access to ubiquitous digital communications."
Lockheed has been a frequent target of cyber attacks by individual hackers and foreign governments, said one industry executive, who was not authorized to speak publicly. "The Chinese had been after them forever," this executive said.
Winterfeld noted that both China and Russia had developed stealthy fighter jets sooner than expected, raising questions about whether those countries had penetrated U.S. networks involved with development of U.S. stealth technology.
Lockheed teamed up this month with Carnegie Mellon University to open a new cyber laboratory in Pittsburgh.
At the time, Rick Ambrose, president of Lockheed's information systems division, said potential cyber attackers were "getting smarter, faster, and more sophisticated every day."
The company has been working to help accelerate response times, protect smartphones, and pinpoint potential vulnerabilities in government and corporate networks.
(Reporting by Jim Finkle and Andrea Shalal-Esa; Editing by Tim Dobbyn)
Technology
Media
Related Quotes and News
Company
Price
Related News
Tweet this
Link this
Share this
Digg this
Email
Reprints
We welcome comments that advance the story directly or with relevant tangential information. We try to block comments that use offensive language, all capital letters or appear to be spam, and we review comments frequently to ensure they meet our standards. If you see a comment that you believe is irrelevant or inappropriate, you can flag it to our editors by using the report abuse links. Views expressed in the comments do not represent those of Reuters.
Comments (0)
Be the first to comment on reuters.com.
Add yours using the box above.
Social Stream (What's this?)
© Copyright 2011 Thomson Reuters
Editorial Editions:
Africa
Arabic
Argentina
Brazil
Canada
China
France
Germany
India
Italy
Japan
Latin America
Mexico
Russia
Spain
United Kingdom
United States
Reuters
Contact Us
Advertise With Us
Help
Journalism Handbook
Archive
Site Index
Video Index
Reader Feedback
Mobile
Newsletters
RSS
Podcasts
Widgets
Your View
Analyst Research
Thomson Reuters
Copyright
Disclaimer
Privacy
Professional Products
Professional Products Support
Financial Products
About Thomson Reuters
Careers
Online Products
Acquisitions Monthly
Buyouts
Venture Capital Journal
International Financing Review
Project Finance International
PEhub.com
PE Week
FindLaw
Super Lawyers Attorney Rating Service
Reuters on Facebook
Thomson Reuters is the world's largest international multimedia news agency, providing investing news, world news, business news, technology news, headline news, small business news, news alerts, personal finance, stock market, and mutual funds information available on Reuters.com, video, mobile, and interactive television platforms. Thomson Reuters journalists are subject to an Editorial Handbook which requires fair presentation and disclosure of relevant interests.
NYSE and AMEX quotes delayed by at least 20 minutes. Nasdaq delayed by at least 15 minutes. For a complete list of exchanges and delays, please click here.
Other News on Friday, 27 May 2011 Syrian forces fire on Deraa protesters: witnesses
|
Roadside bomb kills seven U.S. troops in Afghanistan
|
Gunmen kill Iraqi official who purged Saddam loyali
|
Mexico's Ernesto Cordero eyes 2012 presidential run
|
Witness: An evening with Ratko Mladic
|
Lockheed network suffers major disruption: sources
|
Facebook, Zuckerberg say ownership suit a fraud
|
Republicans, Democrats skeptical of AT&T deal
|
Sloppy recycling seen posing threat to green tech
|
Google takes wraps off pay-by-phone system
|
Microsoft board backs Ballmer over Einhorn
|
NY court keeps alive suit against Huffington Post
|
LinkedIn options to start trading in U.S. on Friday
|
Lindsay Lohan starts house arrest for jewelry theft
|
Oprah Winfrey bows out with simplicity, gratitude
|
Men still behaving badly in Hangover Part II
|
Clinton in Pakistan, presses for more to quash
|
Ratko Mladic to face tribunal on genocide charges
|
North Korea says it releases detained U.S. citizen
|
Civil war looms in Yemen, Saleh urged to quit
|
Japan powerbroker Ozawa ready to challenge PM: report
|
Bomb blast in southeast Turkey wounds two
|
G8 pledges financial help for Arab spring nations
|
East Libyans spend dwindling savings on bare basics
|
Google takes wraps off pay-by-phone system
|
EBay and PayPal sue Google over trade secrets
|
Analysis: S.Korea's smartphone love affair lures foreign suitors
|
Eircom in talks ahead of likely covenant breach
|
Facebook, Zuckerberg say ownership suit a fraud
|
Lindsay Lohan starts house arrest for jewelry theft
|
Old friends Stoller, Butler make new Broadway musical
|
Air France jet crashed nose-up after 4 minute ordeal
|
Russia joins Western chorus for Gaddafi to go
|
Protests erupt across Syria as world pressure grows
|
Egyptians demand deeper and faster reforms
|
Generals questioned as Turkey's pre-poll tensions show
|
Iran says nuclear bomb would be strategic mistake
|
Palestinians have no wish to isolate Israel: Abbas
|
Microsoft not too late for tablet party: Citigroup
|
Sony to begin restoring PlayStation Network in Asia
|
Mobile devices useful travel companions: poll
|
U.S. lawsuit claims RIM misled investors
|
Activist Icahn cuts stake in Take-Two Interactive
|
Solar panels win reprieve in EU toxic substance ban
|
Tessera sues Sony for non-payment of loyalty
|
Jessica Chastain off to roaring start in Hollywood
|
Greece at new risk of being pushed off euro
Bodies of missing Tenn. mom, Jo Ann Bain, and daughter found
Female Breasts Are Bigger Than Ever
AMD Trinity Accelerated Processing Units Now in Volume Production
The Avengers (2012 film), made the second biggest opening- and single-day gross of all-time
AMD to Start Production of piledriver
Ivy Bridge Quad-Core, Four-Thread Desktop CPUs
Islamists Protest Lady Gaga's Concert in Indonesia
Japan Successfully Broadcasts an 8K Signal Over the Air
ECB boosts loans to 1 trillion Euro to stop credit crunch
Egypt : Mohammed Morsi won with 52 percent
What do you call 100,000 Frenchmen with their hands up
AMD Launches AMD Embedded R-Series APU Platform
Fed Should not Ignore Emerging Market Crisis
Fed casts shadow over India, emerging markets
Why are Chinese tourists so rude? A few insights