http://online.wsj.com/article/SB124027491029837401.html

Computer Spies Breach Fighter-Jet Project

By SIOBHAN GORMAN, AUGUST COLE and YOCHI DREAZEN

WASHINGTON -- Computer spies have broken into the Pentagon's $300
billion Joint Strike Fighter project -- the Defense Department's
costliest weapons program ever -- according to current and former
government officials familiar with the attacks.

Similar incidents have also breached the Air Force's
air-traffic-control system in recent months, these people say. In the
case of the fighter-jet program, the intruders were able to copy and
siphon off several terabytes of data related to design and electronics
systems, officials say, potentially making it easier to defend against
the craft.

The latest intrusions provide new evidence that a battle is heating up
between the U.S. and potential adversaries over the data networks that
tie the world together. The revelations follow a recent Wall Street
Journal report that computers used to control the
U.S. electrical-distribution system, as well as other infrastructure,
have also been infiltrated by spies abroad.

Attacks like these -- or U.S. awareness of them -- appear to have
escalated in the past six months, said one former official briefed on
the matter. "There's never been anything like it," this person said,
adding that other military and civilian agencies as well as private
companies are affected. "It's everything that keeps this country
going."

Many details couldn't be learned, including the specific identity of
the attackers, and the scope of the damage to the U.S. defense
program, either in financial or security terms. In addition, while the
spies were able to download sizable amounts of data related to the
jet-fighter, they weren't able to access the most sensitive material,
which is stored on computers not connected to the Internet.

Former U.S. officials say the attacks appear to have originated in
China. However it can be extremely difficult to determine the true
origin because it is easy to mask identities online.

A Pentagon report issued last month said that the Chinese military has
made "steady progress" in developing online-warfare techniques. China
hopes its computer skills can help it compensate for an underdeveloped
military, the report said.

The Chinese Embassy said in a statement that China "opposes and
forbids all forms of cyber crimes." It called the Pentagon's report "a
product of the Cold War mentality" and said the allegations of cyber
espionage are "intentionally fabricated to fan up China threat
sensations."
Question of the Day

The U.S. has no single government or military office responsible for
cyber security. The Obama administration is likely to soon propose
creating a senior White House computer-security post to coordinate
policy and a new military command that would take the lead in
protecting key computer networks from intrusions, according to senior
officials.

The Bush administration planned to spend about $17 billion over
several years on a new online-security initiative and the Obama
administration has indicated it could expand on that. Spending on this
scale would represent a potential windfall for government agencies and
private contractors at a time of falling budgets. While specialists
broadly agree that the threat is growing, there is debate about how
much to spend in defending against attacks.

The Joint Strike Fighter, also known as the F-35 Lightning II, is the
costliest and most technically challenging weapons program the
Pentagon has ever attempted. The plane, led by Lockheed Martin Corp.,
relies on 7.5 million lines of computer code, which the Government
Accountability Office said is more than triple the amount used in the
current top Air Force fighter.

Six current and former officials familiar with the matter confirmed
that the fighter program had been repeatedly broken into. The Air
Force has launched an investigation.

Pentagon officials declined to comment directly on the Joint Strike
Fighter compromises. Pentagon systems "are probed daily," said Air
Force Lt. Col. Eric Butterbaugh, a Pentagon spokesman. "We
aggressively monitor our networks for intrusions and have appropriate
procedures to address these threats." U.S. counterintelligence chief
Joel Brenner, speaking earlier this month to a business audience in
Austin, Texas, warned that fighter-jet programs have been compromised.

Foreign allies are helping develop the aircraft, which opens up other
avenues of attack for spies online. At least one breach appears to
have occurred in Turkey and another country that is a U.S. ally,
according to people familiar with the matter.

Joint Strike Fighter test aircraft are already flying, and money to
build the jet is included in the Pentagon's budget for this year and
next.
[Means of Attack]

Computer systems involved with the program appear to have been
infiltrated at least as far back as 2007, according to people familiar
with the matter. Evidence of penetrations continued to be discovered
at least into 2008. The intruders appear to have been interested in
data about the design of the plane, its performance statistics and its
electronic systems, former officials said.

The intruders compromised the system responsible for diagnosing a
plane's maintenance problems during flight, according to officials
familiar with the matter. However, the plane's most vital systems --
such as flight controls and sensors -- are physically isolated from
the publicly accessible Internet, they said.

The intruders entered through vulnerabilities in the networks of two
or three contractors helping to build the high-tech fighter jet,
according to people who have been briefed on the matter. Lockheed
Martin is the lead contractor on the program, and Northrop Grumman
Corp. and BAE Systems PLC also play major roles in its development.

Lockheed Martin and BAE declined to comment. Northrop referred
questions to Lockheed.

The spies inserted technology that encrypts the data as it's being
stolen; as a result, investigators can't tell exactly what data has
been taken. A former Pentagon official said the military carried out a
thorough cleanup.

Fighting online attacks like these is particularly difficult because
defense contractors may have uneven network security, but the Pentagon
is reliant on them to perform sensitive work. In the past year, the
Pentagon has stepped up efforts to work with contractors to improve
computer security.

Investigators traced the penetrations back with a "high level of
certainty" to known Chinese Internet protocol, or IP, addresses and
digital fingerprints that had been used for attacks in the past, said
a person briefed on the matter.

As for the intrusion into the Air Force's air-traffic control systems,
three current and former officials familiar with the incident said it
occurred in recent months. It alarmed U.S. national security
officials, particularly at the National Security Agency, because the
access the spies gained could have allowed them to interfere with the
system, said one former official. The danger is that intruders might
find weaknesses that could be exploited to confuse or damage
U.S. military craft.

Military officials declined to comment on the incident.

In his speech in Austin, Mr. Brenner, the U.S. counterintelligence
chief, issued a veiled warning about threats to air traffic in the
context of Chinese infiltration of U.S. networks. He spoke of his
concerns about the vulnerability of U.S. air traffic control systems
to cyber infiltration, adding "our networks are being mapped." He went
on to warn of a potential situation where "a fighter pilot can't trust
his radar.