MILAN (Reuters) – “An investigation into a data theft at Leonardo has found that a hacker working inside the Italian defence group appeared to target details of Europe’s biggest unmanned fighter jet programme and aircraft used by the military and police, an arrest warrant shows.
The ongoing inquiry was undertaken by Italian police’s cybercrime divisions in Rome and Naples and Naples prosecutors. It began in January 2017 when Leonardo told police of an abnormal outflow of data from some of its computers.
Details of the parts of Leonardo’s business that the hacker allegedly targeted have not been reported before.
The warrant does not say whether the hacker was acting independently or at the behest of others or the goal of the alleged activity.
In the 108-page warrant seen by Reuters, the judge leading the preliminary inquiry cites evidence that one of the computers which was hacked belonged to a Leonardo technician who worked on the electronic system of the nEUROn, an experimental unmanned military aircraft which was designed in 2012 under a European defence programme led by France.
Other computers belonged to Leonardo workers involved in the production of C27J military transport aircraft and ATR commercial and military turbo-prop planes used by Italy’s tax police and coastguard, the November-dated document said.
Asked about the details in the court document, Leonardo repeated that classified, strategic information was not held on the computers that were violated. Leonardo does not score top-secret military data at the group’s plant in Pomigliano d’Arco, near Naples.
Leonardo said on Dec. 5 that it was the injured party and that it had first reported the hacking, adding it would continue to cooperate fully with the police.
More reports on Italy show the relationships between Leonardo and American politicians.
And it wasn’t just in 2020 that it is suspected that Leonardo was throwing votes.
US election data was forwarded from Frankfurt, Germany to Italy where members of MI6, CIA, & the Leonardo group, led the operation & built the algorithms to manipulate US election data. Former CIA Officer Brad Johnson & President (https://t.co/Iwsvv1WFsa) discusses the operation. pic.twitter.com/ColOZETlKh
— BlueSkyReport (@BlueSky_Report) January 6, 2021