'Significant' Cyber-attack Against Lockheed Martin Highlights a New Sector: Tactical Computer Security

Lockheed Martin Corporation (NYSE: LMT) recently announced that on Saturday, May 21, the defense contractor detected a "significant and tenacious attack on its information systems network."

Though the company claims that "no customer, program or employee personal data has been compromised," the hacking attack is yet another reminder of the constant pressure that companies and governments face from anonymous sources around the world.

Numerous companies specialize in protecting the secure networks that the aforementioned organizations rely on. Between software vendors, security consultants, and Internet specialists, the market for network security is saturated.

Still, that hasn't prevented many recent malicious attacks on large corporations and government entities.

Bloomberg reported Saturday that security services firm RSA is ramping up protection for its clients after its network was breached and sensitive information was stolen. RSA sells services related to organizational risk, safeguarding mobile access and collaboration, proving compliance, and securing virtual and cloud environments.

While companies like RSA play a necessary role in network security, it's time for a renewed look at information protection.

As more and more of our information needs to be properly guarded, it's clear that companies specializing in tactical security strategy will increase in prominence. The sheer volume of information that organizations must protect means that it's impossible to simply "lock" it all away for a select few to access.

Instead, companies must move to offense instead of playing defense. Specialists trained in a particular industry must evolve to anticipate what hackers and criminals will do. They must keep an ear to the ground, staying in tune with the hacking techniques and technologies that change daily.

If anything is clear, it's that information security will only become more important as more data is created. Investors, corporations, and consumers should be on the look-out for companies that specialize in information security services. In particular, keep sights on any organizations that use proactive techniques instead of reactive.

Indeed, the reactive companies are the ones scrambling to cover themselves now.