A lot of valuable information may have ended up in the wrong hands

Oct 25, 2011 14:47 GMT  ·  By

The recent Mitsubishi attack was highly analyzed by the media and by specialists, but now it turns out that the damage is far more severe than originally estimated. Information on fighter jets, submarines, nuke plants and even missile systems might have been leaked as a result of the hit.

The Asahi Shimbun informs us that recent inquiries revealed that tons of information was transmitted from the company's computers to someone from outside.

It looks like 83 computers, spread out in 11 locations, were infected with a virus that allowed a cybercriminal to steal classified data from locations such as the Kobe and Nagasaki shipyards which are responsible for building destroyers and submarines.

Defense equipment and nuclear power plant information also may have gotten out from the organization's internal network. The plant info contained mostly data on design, equipment and anti-quake measures and the defense equipment mentioned earlier refers to helicopters and fighter jets built for the Defense Ministry.

Fortunately, Mitsubishi Heavy was obligated by the ministry to deploy strict protection policies which may have secured the highly classified data, but so far it's unknown exactly how many things ended up in the wrong hands.

The Tokyo Metropolitan Police Department is currently working on establishing which devices actually leaked the data in the effort of determining the precise quantity of materials that got out.

Hopefully, Mitsubishi handled all the sensitive stuff properly and isolated it from the rest of its computer structure, otherwise this might turn out to be one of the largest industrial heists the world has ever seen.

Such events are highly unfortunate and they should act as a lessor to all large corporations that handle highly restricted data. On the other hand, it's bad enough for the Japanese that they have to face the force of mother nature, it would be really awful if it would turn out they've lost a few of the country's most valuable secrets.