DARPA CREATING 'VIRTUAL FIRING RANGE' TO HELP COMBAT CYBER ATTACKS

Reuters reports that DARPA is working on a National Cyber Range, which would act a standalone internet simulation engine where digital warriors can be trained and experimental ideas tested out. Lockheed Martin and Johns Hopkins University are competing to provide the final system, with one of them expected to soon get the go-ahead for a one-year trial, which, if all goes well, will be followed by DARPA unleashing its techies upon the virtual firing range in earnest next year.

The cost of the project is said to run somewhere near $130 million, which might have sounded a bit expensive before the recent spate of successful hacking attacks on high profile private companies, but now seems like a rational expenditure to ensure the nuclear missile codes and the people crazy enough to use them are kept at a safe distance from one another.

DEFENSE CONTRACTOR LOCKHEED MARTIN INVESTIGATING SECURITY BREACH

Lockheed Martin is one of the US Department of Defense‘s largest contractors, and the biggest provider of technology services to the government overall. Now, word is trickling out from unnamed sources close to the company that Lockheed Martin’s internal technology team is working overtime to combat major network issues that could be related to a security breach.

It’s important to note that the issues haven’t been confirmed as a hack or security issue as of yet, but if the issues do turn out to be security related, it could be a very serious problem for the Pentagon and the US government as a whole. Lockheed Martin is the company behind a number of high-tech, classified government progrmas, like the F-22 Raptor fighter/bomber: the US Air Force’s next generation air superiority fighter. (Lockheed Martin is also the company behind the famous-but-now-decommissioned SR-71 Blackbird spy jet, which once held the record for fastest manned jet aircraft.)

Lockheed Martin is also the parts and technology manufacturer behind a number of other weapons systems already deployed in conflicts around the globe and at sea, and a major technology partner in a number of NASA’s space exploration projects, like the Phoenix Mars Lander and the Mars Global Surveyor. Reuters reports that Lockheed Martin has notified the Pentagon of its network issues, and has already advised Pentagon officials with access to information shared with Lockheed Martin to take steps like changing their passwords. Lockheed Martin employees have already been advised to take the same steps to protect their own security.