Pentagon: Sensitive Files Were Hacked

In case 2011 wasn’t the year of the hacker already—from WikiLeaks to the News of the World—here’s the latest proof. The Pentagon says foreign hackers busted into the computer system of an unnamed defense contractor and obtained some 24,000 sensitive Defense Department files. Although much of what was taken was described as mundane info on small parts, some was not. “A great deal of it concerns our most sensitive systems, including aircraft avionics, surveillance technologies, satellite communications systems and network security protocols,” said Deputy Defense Secretary William Lynn III. The Pentagon also refused to disclose what nation was suspected of orchestrating the hack, but it comes as the U.S. moves to beef up its cyberwar and cyberdefense capabilities.