U.S. agencies offered assistance to Lockheed Martin Corp., the world’s largest defense contractor, which suffered what it called a “tenacious” cyber attack on its computer networks May 21.
The Department of Homeland Security “is aware of a cyber incident impacting” Lockheed and, together with the Department of Defense, has offered help in “determining the extent of the incident, performing analysis of available data in order to provide recommendations to mitigate further risk,” Chris Ortman, a spokesman for the agency, said in an e-mail Saturday.
The impact on the military “is minimal and we don’t expect any adverse effect,” Lt. Col. April Cunningham, a spokeswoman, said in an e-mail.
Lockheed, based in Bethesda, Md., said it detected a “significant and tenacious attack” on its computer networks May 21. It was found “almost immediately” and no employee, program or customer data was lost, the company said in a statement.
The company’s facilities include the Waterton Canyon campus in metro Denver.
Lockheed uses a mobile security system produced by EMC Corp.’s RSA unit. RSA bolstered security for clients, including Lockheed, after a network breach in March resulted in the theft of RSA data, a person familiar with the process said.
The remediation involves replacing the SecurID tokens issued by RSA that often expire in three years, said the person, who wasn’t authorized to discuss the matter publicly.
