Chinese government hacked US Navy contractor: Official report
Tehran (KNA) - Chinese government hackers have reportedly infiltrated the computers of a US navy contractor and stolen a large amount of highly sensitive data on undersea warfare.
Citing unnamed American officials, the Washington Post reported on Friday that the hackers had swiped 614 gigabytes of classified data including information related to sensors, submarine cryptographic systems and a closely held project known as Sea Dragon.
The officials declined to identify the compromised contractor but revealed that it had been working for the Naval Undersea Warfare Center, a military organization headquartered in Newport, Rhode Island, that conducts research and development for submarines and underwater weaponry.
Among the stolen data were also plans for the development of a supersonic anti-ship missile to be used on US submarines by 2020.
The security breaches apparently took place in January and February of this year and there has been an ongoing investigation led by the navy with the assistance of the FBI.
"Per federal regulations, there are measures in place that require companies to notify the government when a 'cyber incident' has occurred that has actual or potential adverse effects on their networks that contain controlled unclassified information. It would be inappropriate to discuss further details at this time," the US navy told Reuters.
The Post said it had agreed to withhold some details about the compromised missile project after the navy said their release could harm national security.
"The officials said the material, when aggregated, would be considered classified, a fact that raises concerns about the Navy's ability to oversee contractors tasked with developing cutting-edge weapons," the newspaper reported.
Source: PressTV