In 2018, reports said Chinese government-linked hackers stole a large trove of sensitive undersea-warfare information from a Rhode Island-based Navy contractor. The reported material included submarine-related technical data, information about Navy cryptographic systems and an electronic warfare library. The contractor was not named, and public accounts differ on whether the material was formally classified.
What happened in the reported Navy contractor breach?
CyberScoop’s Chris Bing reported on June 8, 2018, that hackers linked in reporting to China’s Ministry of State Security (MSS) had breached a Navy contractor around February of that year. The account attributed the MSS connection to The Washington Post; it was a reported attribution, not a publicly released forensic finding. The contractor was described as based in Rhode Island and working on a Navy development project called Sea Dragon, but the cited reporting did not identify the company.
CyberScoop noted that Electric Boat Corp. was among the largest companies involved in the still-active Sea Dragon contract. That does not establish that Electric Boat’s own systems were breached. The reported victim was an unnamed contractor.
What information was reportedly stolen?
Reports described a substantial collection of undersea-warfare material rather than a publicly verified inventory of specific files. CyberScoop said the stolen data included an electronic warfare library and information about Navy cryptographic systems. USNI News, citing a defense official familiar with the breach, reported 614 gigabytes related to Sea Dragon, signals and sensor data, submarine radio-room information related to cryptographic systems, and an electronic warfare library.
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CyberScoop described the theft as more than half a terabyte. The 614-gigabyte figure came from USNI News. Both quantities are attributed contemporaneous news reports; no public forensic inventory was cited to independently verify the amount or every category of data.
Was the stolen material classified?
Public accounts do not agree on its formal classification. CyberScoop called the material classified, while USNI News described highly sensitive data. A later Congressional Research Service summary characterized the undersea-warfare information as “unclassified but sensitive.” The most careful general description is therefore sensitive undersea-warfare information; the available public sources do not establish a single agreed classification status.
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What was the Sea Dragon project?
CyberScoop described Sea Dragon as a project within the Pentagon’s Strategic Capabilities Office. The outlet quoted budget-document language describing an effort to build a “cost-effective disruptive offensive capability … by integrating an existing weapon system with an existing Navy platform.” The reported connection to Sea Dragon helps explain why submarine and weapons-related technical material was relevant, but the public accounts do not provide a complete description of the stolen files or project implementation.
Independent reader supportYour contribution helps us test, update, and keep practical guides available for everyone.How is this different from the APT10 Navy personnel case?
The Sea Dragon contractor incident is separate from a case announced by the Department of Justice in December 2018. In that matter, the DOJ said APT10 compromised more than 40 computers to steal sensitive Navy data, including personal information belonging to more than 100,000 Navy personnel. That personnel figure belongs to the APT10 case; it is not a victim count for the Sea Dragon contractor breach.
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Sources and reporting context
- CyberScoop, Chris Bing, June 8, 2018
- USNI News, Sam LaGrone, June 8, 2018
- U.S. Department of Justice announcement on APT10, December 20, 2018
- Congressional Research Service, Navy Virginia-Class Submarine Program and AUKUS Submarine Project
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