Chinese hackers steal information about US Navy weapons system

Chinese state hackers allegedly gained access to hundreds of gigabytes of confidential information about weapons used by the US Navy through a computer hack. The burglary is believed to have taken place earlier this year.

The hack did not take place directly on US Navy computer systems, but at a company contracted by the Navy. The Washington Post reports that on the basis of information issued by American officials. They did not want to be mentioned by name. The exact company involved has not been disclosed, but it is clear that a lot of secret data has been stolen by what the Americans describe as Chinese state hackers.

According to The Washington Post, a total of 614GB was captured in a project known as Sea Dragon within the Navy that has been in existence since 2012. The dataset includes plans for a weapon system for submarines; it would be a torpedo that could be used by the US Navy from 2020 onwards. The Washington Post has obtained information about which weapon system is involved, but has promised not to make that information public.

The US Navy and the FBI are investigating the hack, which is said to have taken place in January and February of this year. However, no one from the FBI would comment on The Washington Post’s coverage.