The hackers did not confirm whether the material came from more than one compromised source
NATO assesses impact of data breach of classified military documents sold online by hacker group. The data includes designs for weapons used by NATO allies in the war in Ukraine, according to a BBC report.
The hackers are selling the files after stealing data linked to a major European arms manufacturer.
MBDA Missile Systems, which is based in France, said its information had been breached, adding that it was cooperating with authorities in Italy, where the data breach took place.
It is understood the investigations are focusing on one of MBDA’s suppliers.
A NATO spokesman said MBDA had nothing to do with the case: “We are evaluating claims related to data allegedly stolen from MBDA. We have no indication that any NATO network has been breached.”
The group, which is active on Russian and English forums, is selling 80GB of the stolen data for 15 Bitcoin (about £18,000) and claims to have sold the material to at least one unknown buyer so far.
The group also claimed to have “classified information about employees of companies involved in the development of closed military projects,” as well as “design documents, plans, presentations, video and photographic material, contracts and correspondence with other companies.”
The NATO classification levels are as follows:
COSMIC TOP SECRET: unauthorized disclosure would cause extremely serious problems for NATO.
NATO SECRET: unauthorized disclosure would cause serious problems for NATO.
NATO CONFIDENTIAL: unauthorized disclosure would harm NATO’s interests.
NATO RESTRICTED: unauthorized disclosure would be adverse to NATO’s interests
Unclassified Controlled Information (unclassified controlled information): is a US security classification for information created or owned by the government. Information that requires retention or dissemination controls in accordance with applicable laws, regulations and government policies.
The hackers did not confirm whether the material came from more than one compromised source.
A former NATO official said: “There is a lot of over-classification in NATO, but these classifications matter. They are applied by the originator of the information and “NATO SECRET” is not applied lightly. It is information that NATO does not want to be made public.”
He added that the chances of the documents being declassified were slim, considering that most of the files appear to have been created between 2017 and 2020.
The sample files also included a presentation that appeared to detail the inner workings of the Land Ceptor CAMM (Common Anti-Air Modular Missile), including the exact location of the electronic storage module within it.
One of these was recently sent to Poland for use in the war in Ukraine as part of the Sky Saber system and is operational.
MBDA Missile Systems did not dispute that its information was breached, but said: “The company’s internal verification procedures show that the data available online is neither classified data nor sensitive.”
However, some of the documents, known to have been stolen from MBDA, are marked “proprietary information not to be shared or reproduced”.
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