MBDA Refutes Hack Claim and Shares Investigative Steps
European aerospace missile maker MBDA has pushed back against assertions from the Andrastea hacker group that its databases were breached. The group claims to have accessed roughly 60GB of data that purportedly includes employee information and details about ongoing development programs. MBDA has publicly disputed these claims and indicated that no unauthorized intrusion into its information systems occurred.
A leading industry magazine reported MBDA’s response, noting that the company denies any database compromise and has filed a police report alleging blackmail attempts connected to the incident. The publication quotes MBDA as saying there was no breach of the company’s information systems and that any files that appeared to be in the hackers possession were extracted from an external hard drive, not from MBDA’s core networks.
MBDA further stated that Italian authorities have opened an official investigation into the matter. The involvement of national law enforcement signals a formal process to determine the path the attackers claimed to have used and the credibility of the alleged data access. The company emphasized its commitment to transparency with authorities and to safeguarding sensitive program information that touches on national defense interests.
The episode began with a message from the attackers by way of an online forum. The hackers, using the pseudonym Adrastea, suggested they had breached the MBDA database. They accompanied their assertion with a link to an archive containing demonstration files believed to illustrate the extent of the access. The publication notes that the attackers claimed to have obtained a large volume of data and outlined expectations related to the information they had captured, including personnel involved in military projects, contractual agreements, and internal correspondence with partner firms.
Industry observers have pointed to MBDA as a prominent player formed through a 2001 merger that brought together French Aérospatiale-Matra Missiles, British Matra BAe Dynamics, and Italian Finmeccanica. The organization also has connections with Leonardo as a participant in European defense collaborations. The hackers reported their target as a European manufacturer with a reputation for advanced missile systems across aerospace and naval applications. The exact provenance and chronology of the alleged breach remain under dispute as investigators review digital fingerprints and available artifacts to establish whether access occurred as claimed or if the data surfaced from other sources.
In the absence of independently verifiable evidence, MBDA reiterated that its own networks have not been compromised and that the alleged 60GB of data is not part of the company’s secure systems. The firm described the scenario as a potential attempt to coerce the organization through blackmail while asserting that what surfaced could be misattributed or incomplete records siphoned from an external drive. Analysts caution that attributing cyber incidents in the defense sector can be particularly intricate, given the sensitive nature of supply chains and the variety of digital footprints attackers may exploit. The ongoing investigation aims to clarify whether the posted materials were real, and if so, to determine the scope and sources of the data, including any inadvertent exposure at endpoints outside the core network.
As the inquiry advances, MBDA remains focused on protecting personnel information, project specifics, and commercial arrangements without compromising national security considerations. The company has called on stakeholders to await official findings from the authorities, emphasizing that responsible disclosure is essential in the defense technology arena. The situation underscores the importance of robust endpoint security, careful logging, and rapid incident response in sectors where data integrity and strategic partnerships are paramount. The broader defense industry will be watching closely as authorities pursue clarity on the authenticity of the claim and the mechanisms behind any alleged data exposure, if indeed it occurred. The matter is being treated with due diligence, and communications from MBDA stress cooperation with law enforcement throughout the investigative process. Attribution: MBDA official statements; coverage from the referenced industry publication; ongoing investigations by Italian authorities.