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Chinese hackers caught trying to steal secrets of our new stealth fighter as tens of thousands of cyber attacks are launched on jet manufacturer every week
- Lockheed Martin said it was being targeted by hackers from China
- Company is building new Joint Strike Fighter which is 'invisible' on radar
- Team of 'young geeks' battling against cyber attacks at British base
By Sean Rayment
PUBLISHED:15:58 EST, 11 May 2013| UPDATED:15:58 EST, 11 May 2013
Chinese cyber spies have been caught trying to steal the secrets of Britain's most sophisticated combat jet, The Mail on Sunday has learned.
A covert unit within the Chinese Army has been using highly sophisticated cyber weapons in a desperate attempt to acquire classified information about the stealthy Joint Strike Fighter (JSF).
Manufacturer Lockheed Martin claims it is thwarting tens of thousands of computer attacks every week to keep secure secrets about the jet – due to be in service with the Royal Navy and RAF by 2018.
Cutting edge: An F-35 fighter taking shape. Each of the jets costs £100million
Invisible: The Joint Strike Fighter can fool radar systems due to its shape which makes it hard to detect
Hackers: Lockheed Martin is receiving tens of thousands of cyber attacks from China every week (file photo)
The defence giant has recruited some of Britain's brightest 'young geeks' to help thwart the attacks, based in a secure area of the company's counter-cyber headquarters in Farnborough, Hampshire.
A source said: 'We have recruited a very strong team of young computer engineers who are basically experts in counter-cyber. They are effectively all geeks and spend much of their time war-gaming against the Chinese.
'They allow the foreign hackers through the first few security levels and then can work out, through a process of reverse engineering, where the attacks are originating.
'It's the same country every time – China. The Chinese try to disguise what they are doing but their guys are not as good as ours.'
The JSF can fly into enemy territory and attack targets with precision-guided weapons without being detected – a capability which is said to terrify Chinese generals.
The aircraft is coated with a special paint and has a stealthy design which means it is almost completely invisible to radar.
The Chinese government is understood to have developed a sophisticated 'exfiltration cyber weapon' which can steal information by secretly downloading computer files.
MI5, Britain's security service, and America's FBI both believe the cyber attacks against Lockheed Martin originate from a secret cell within the China's People's Liberation Army.
Big business: Lockheed Martin is the world's largest defence contracting company
The unit is understood to be staffed by hundreds of English-speaking computer experts whose sole job is to steal information from the US and Britain.
But despite the weight of evidence supporting the claims, the Chinese government denies any knowledge of the unit's existence and refutes all allegations that it is involved in cyber espionage.
The latest allegations of Chinese cyber theft follow a report last week from the US defence department, which accused the Chinese of launching attacks on Pentagon computers.
In the report, officials said: 'In 2012 numerous computer systems around the world, including those owned by the US government, continued to be targeted for intrusions, some of which appear to be attributable directly to the Chinese government and military.'
The JSF can reach 1,300mph and has a range of 1,450 miles, making it faster and more capable than any Chinese fighter.
The jet's invisibility – called 'Very Low Observable' or VLO stealth – is achieved through its shape which is designed to dramatically reduce detection by enemy aircraft and defence systems.
'State sponsored': Both MI5 and the FBI suspect the Chinese Government may be behind the attacks, something it denies
The JSF's hull is made from advanced materials whose formula is classified, and it is coated with a special paint which also reduces its radar reflection.
The aircraft's advanced electronic warfare capabilities mean it can locate and track enemy forces, jam radio frequencies and disrupt attacks – allowing it to reach highly-defended targets while suppressing enemy radar detection.
Each pilot is fitted with a special helmet and visor which shows all of the aircraft's data and provides a 360-degree view of the battle space.
Inside the cockpit, there is speech recognition so that a pilot can talk to the JSF – and the aircraft talks back.The jet also has a glass screen digital instrument panel that the pilot can touch to pull up data – similar to that used on smartphones.
Both the Royal Navy and the Royal Air Force will be equipped with the £100 million F-35B version of the JSF, known as the jump jet or short take-off/vertical landing (SVTOL) model, which can hover or land by itself at the press of a button.
Such advanced features and instrumentation explain why Lockheed Martin want to safeguard the jet's secrets.
British base: Lockheed Martin's counter-cyber headquarters are in Farnborough, Hampshire
Most of the UK geeks fighting the attacks are graduates of Coventry University's forensic computing masters degree.
Dr Siraj Shaikh, senior lecturer in cyber security at Coventry, said his students were particularly attractive to the defence industry because of their skills in 'ethical hacking' and 'penetration prevention' techniques.
Dr Shaikh said: 'We know that sophisticated "exfiltration cyber weapons" are being used against companies like Lockheed Martin.
'These types of cyber weapons are used by countries or organisations attempting to steal secret information. These attacks are extremely sophisticated and are nearly always state-sponsored.'
A spokesman for Lockheed Martin said: 'We recognise the significance of the F-35 programme and the fact that it – along with many of our other programmes – faces constant threats from adversaries around the world.
'We regularly take actions to increase the security of our systems and to protect our employee, customer and programme data.'
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