Hackers also stole computers with codes for the International Space Station

The US space research agency (NASA) announced today that hackers broke into its computers 13 times last year, stole employee data and accessed key projects of certain missions, which could threaten US national security.

NASA spends just $58 million a year on cybersecurity out of its $1,5 billion budget, Paul Martin, the agency's inspector general, said in testimony before the U.S. House Science Committee. He said the agency discovered in November that hackers broke into the system of its main laboratory from a Chinese IP address. Martin said the hackers gained full access to the system, which allowed them to modify and delete sensitive files, create accounts and steal data. They were able to modify system logins to conceal their activities. In another attack last year, hackers stole confidential information about over 150 agency employees.

Martin said NASA was too slow to encrypt data on its laptops to protect them from falling into the wrong hands. Among the unprotected laptops that were lost or stolen were computers containing codes to control the International Space Station, data from the Orion program. and Social Security numbers, a NASA official said.