Hackers Attack U.S. Military Labs

Filed in archive Spam News on December 12, 2007

Hackers have attacked two of the U.S.'s most important science labs, New Mexico's Los Alamos National Laboratory and Tennessee's Oakridge National Laboratory.

At the Oak Ridge lab, the hackers broke into a database that contained the birthdates and social security numbers of everyone who visited the lab between 1990 and 2004. The lab averages about 3,000 visitors a year. The attack was carried out by phishing emails containing malware attachments and started in late October. Not much is known about the Los Alamos attack.
According to PCWorld:

ORNL director, Thom mason, described the attacks in an email to staff earlier this week as being a "coordinated attempt to gain access to computer networks at numerous laboratories and other institutions across the country."
"Because of the sensitive nature of this event, the laboratory will be unable for some period to discuss further details until we better understand the full nature of this attack," he added.

It is believed that other U.S. labs may also have been attacked by the same hackers.