Defense contractor Lockheed Martin (NYSE: LMT) has confirmed that a "significant and tenacious attack" has been carried out against its network. Lockheed employs 126,000 people worldwide and is a major supplier of military equipment, manufacturing some of the most sophisticated U.S. military hardware such as the F-22 Raptor fighter aircraft.

While the company maintains that its system remain secure, other reports say it's not yet clear if any data was actually taken. Citing a person with knowledge of the situation, a Reuters report indicated that the attackers created duplicate SecurID devices in order to circumvent its two-factor authentication system. We reported in March that EMC's RSA was hit by a cyber attack where information about SecurID may have been stolen. 

It is unclear whether the group that attacked RSA is also the one that attempted to break into Lockheed. If it is true, then the sheer scale and depth of the plan to steal military secrets is staggering indeed. It's hard to imagine how non-government entities could have pulled it off. For now, it's understood that remote access to some systems at Lockheed has been temporarily disabled, and the company has also sent 90,000 replacement SecurIDs to its employees. Employees have also been told to reset all their passwords as a precaution.

For more:
- check out this article at eWeek
- check out this article at CNET News
- check out this article at The Wall Street Journal

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