The Defense Department said on Saturday that the impact on the Pentagon of a cyber attack on Lockheed Martin was “minimal” and it expected no harm to result. “Impact to DoD is minimal, and we don’t expect any adverse effect,”. Lockheed Martin, the U.S. government’s top information technology provider, said that it detected and thwarted “a significant and tenacious attack” on its information systems network one week ago.
“As a result of the swift and deliberate actions taken to protect the network and increase IT security, our systems remain secure,” Jennifer Whitlow, a Lockheed spokeswoman, said in an e-mailed statement. “No customer, program or employee personal data has been compromised.”
Lockheed’s information security personnel are working around the clock to restore employee access to the “information systems network” targeted in the May 21 attack, the statement said.
U.S. officials may get involved in investigating a cyber breach at a company’s request. Homeland Security, for instance, can deploy a team to analyze infected systems, develop mitigation strategies, advise on efforts to restore service and make recommendations for improving network security.