Protection Against Rockets Doesn’t Imply Protection Against Malicious Hackers

Israel’s Iron Dome has proven to be a very effective defensive system against rockets. But just because you can build an effective anti-rocket system doesn’t mean your network and computer security don’t suck:

Three Israeli defense contractors responsible for building the “Iron Dome” missile shield currently protecting Israel from a barrage of rocket attacks were compromised by hackers and robbed of huge quantities of sensitive documents pertaining to the shield technology, KrebsOnSecurity has learned.

The never-before publicized intrusions, which occurred between 2011 and 2012, illustrate the continued challenges that defense contractors and other companies face in deterring organized cyber adversaries and preventing the theft of proprietary information.

It always amazes me how a company that invests so much into physical security fail to properly security their computers and networks. But it doesn’t surprise me since physical security and computer and network security are usually quite different (although there is a lot of overlap). I would still think that a company whose task it is to build weapons for physical security would invest a great deal of money into hiring the best computer and network security people in existence.