HACKERS LAUNCHED a “significant and tenacious” cyber attack on Lockheed Martin, a major US defence contractor holding highly sensitive information, but the company says its secrets remain safe.

Lockheed Martin, the Department of Homeland Security and the Pentagon confirmed that the contractor’s information systems had come under attack. Lt Col April Cunningham, speaking for the US Defence Department, said the impact on the Pentagon “is minimal and we don’t expect any adverse effect.”

Still, the concerted attempt to breach the contractor’s systems underscored the risk to the nation’s critical defence data. Chris Ortman, Homeland Security spokesman, said his agency and the Pentagon were working with the company to determine the breadth of the attack and “provide recommendations to mitigate further risk.”

Lockheed Martin said in a statement that it detected the 21 May attack “almost immediately” and took countermeasures. As a result, “our systems remain secure; no customer, programme or employee personal data has been compromised.”

The company’s security team is still working to restore employee access to the targeted network. Neither Lockheed Martin nor the federal agencies revealed specifics of the attack.

- AP