NEWS: Aerospace workers arrested for hacking
Firms temporarily banned from NASDA bids
TOKYO, Japan (AP) -- Three workers at a major Japanese aerospace company were arrested Thursday for allegedly hacking into the computer network of Japan's space agency to spy on a rival company, a Tokyo Metropolitan Police spokesman said.
Shunsuke Migita, 28, Shoichi Motohashi, 44, and Masao Amano, 40 -- all employees at NEC Toshiba Space System Co. -- were charged with illegally obtaining Mitsubishi Electric Corp.'s antenna designs for a high-speed Internet satellite from a computer at the National Space Development Agency in December, the spokesman said on condition of anonymity.
Police believe Migita figured out the password to gain access to the agency's computer system.
NASDA discovered the breach in February when Migita sent an e-mail to a list of more than 80 people boasting about it. The list included Motohashi and Amano, the agency said.
NEC Toshiba Space System, a joint venture set up by Japanese electronics giants NEC Corp. and Toshiba Corp., is developing its own satellite for superfast Internet connections. NEC and Toshiba have evenly divided work on the project.
Following the discovery of the break-in, NASDA banned both NEC and Toshiba from bidding for agency-related projects for one month.
Source: http://www.cnn.com/2002/TECH/interne....ap/index.html
