Japanese defense contractor targeted in cyber attack
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Mitsubishi Heavy admits IT systems compromised in the first recorded cyber attack on the Japanese defense industry
Japan's largest defence contractor has confirmed reports that its IT systems have been compromised by hackers.
Mitsubishi Heavy Industries (MHI), which builds submarines, missiles and components for nuclear power plants, said that company information many have been stolen, but noted that "crucial data about our products or technologies have been kept safe".
Japanese newspaper Yomiuri Shimbun reported that the attack had hit 80 computers at MHI's Tokyo headquarters and various other locaitons it owns. The attack was first indentified on August 11, it said.
Mitsubishi Heavy is the latest in a string of defence contractors to fall victim to cyber attack this year. In May, Lockheed Martin was compromised using security tokens that had been stolen from RSA, while in July hackers claimed to have stolen passwords and emails from Booz Allen Hamilton.
Ironically, these attacks seems to be becoming more frequent at a time when many defense companies are trying to expand their presence in the information security market. Lockheed Martin, for example, is currently advertising itself as "the #1 provider of secure IT systems to US government".
It is widely suspected that Chinese hackers seeking intellectual property are behind the attacks, although the evidence is mainly circumstantial.
Meanwhile, two Chinese hackers recently launched an appela on the country's hacking community not to target foreign companies. "It's easy [for a hacker] to give up the original pure pursuit of technical skill when faced with benefits and money" available in cybercrime, Gong Wei, one of the organisers of the new appeal, is quoted as saying in the Wall Street Journal.
