World Naval Developments - The Human Factor in Cyber Security

A recent case of hacking—actually of industrial espionage—offers insights into the world of cyber-warfare. The victim was the Canadian company NorTel, which is now being broken up after suffering severe losses (not attributed to the cyber attack). NorTel may be of direct naval interest because it was deeply involved in the development of active-array radars; it was responsible for the Tx/Rx module used by the Dutch and German navies (at the time the Canadians were planning to buy active-array radars for some modernized Halifax -class frigates). It is not clear to what if any extent details of NorTel’s research were obtained by the attackers. They certainly gained access to reports of that research prepared for management.