US Government Contractor EWA Discloses Data-Theft Breach

U.S. government defense contractor Electronic Warfare Associates (EWA) has started sending out notifications to warn of a data breach that resulted in the theft of Personally Identifiable Information (PII).

In early August 2021, the company said a threat actor was able to compromise the EWA email system following a successful phishing attack.

The adversary, EWA said in the notification letter, attempted to leverage the unauthorized access to perform wire fraud, a move that triggered an alarm and allowed the company to identify and address the incident.

Before that happened, however, the hackers were able to steal files containing PII, including names, Social Security Numbers, and/or drivers’ license numbers.

“We have no reason to believe the purpose of the infiltration was to obtain personal information. Nevertheless, the threat actor’s activities did result in the exfiltration of files with certain personal information,” EWA said in the letter.

The Virginia-based EWA is a provider of electronic warfare products and services, including tools for analysis, simulation, and training, and custom instrumentation.

This is not the first time EWA — which works with the United States Department of Defense, Department of Homeland Security, and Department of Justice — fell victim to hackers. Last year, the company was reportedly hit by the Ryuk ransomware gang.

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