Hackers Step Up Attacks To Steal Airbus Secrets

China’s hand suspected in bid to get key data from the aerospace giant’s suppliers

- Daphne Benoit, Fabien Zamora, Laurent Barthelemy

European aerospace giant Airbus has been hit by a series of attacks by hackers targeting its suppliers in search of commercial secrets, sources told AFP, adding they suspected a Chinese link.

AFP spoke to seven security and industry sources, all of whom confirmed a spate of attacks in the past 12 months but asked for anonymity because of the sensitive nature of the information they were sharing.

Two security sources involved in investigating the hacking said there had been four major attacks. Airbus has long been considered a tempting target because of the cutting-edge technologies that have made it one of the world's biggest commercial plane manufacturers, as well as a strategic military supplier.

In January, it admitted to a security incident that resulted in unauthorized access to data, but people with knowledge of the attacks outlined a concerted and far bigger operation over the last year.