NASA admits to 13 data breaches
NASA has admitted hackers stole employee credentials and gained access to mission-critical projects last year in 13 major network breaches.
NASA inspector General Paul Martin testified before Congress this week on the breaches, which appear to be among the more significant in a string of security problems for federal agencies.
The space agency discovered in November that hackers working through an IP address in China broke into the network of NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Martin said in testimony released on Wednesday. One of NASA's key labs, JPL manages 23 spacecraft conducting active space missions, including missions to Jupiter, Mars and Saturn. He said the hackers gained full system access, which allowed them to modify, copy or delete sensitive files, create new user accounts and upload hacking tools to steal user credentials and compromise other NASA systems.
