A report says hackers stole data from NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Southern California for nearly a year without being detected.
The Pasadena Star-News reports Friday that security weaknesses allowed hackers to steal 500 megabytes of data from 23 files, including two containing restricted information related to the Curiosity rover Mars mission.
A report this week from NASA’s Office of the Inspector General says hackers used a credit card-sized computer and a compromised external user account.
They operated for 10 months until the hack was discovered in April 2018.
As a result, NASA temporarily disconnected several space flight-related systems from JPL’s computer network.
The Star-News says hackers also broke into JPL in 2009, 2011, 2014, 2016 and 2017.
NASA recommended security fixes that should be completed over the next year.
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