Orbital ATK and SSL at Odds Over CFAA Complaint

Orbital ATK, having accessed Space Systems Loral trade secrets via a NASA server, is trying to inject new assertions through its motion to dismiss SSL's Computer Fraud and Abuse Act and Defend Trade Secrets Act complaints, SSL said in opposition (in Pacer) to Orbital's motion to dismiss. Friday in U.S. District Court in Norfolk, Virginia, SSL said Orbital's motion to dismiss makes assertions -- such as that an Orbital employee properly had access to the NASA server -- that can't be tested for veracity and should be disregarded. Orbital, in its motion (in Pacer) to dismiss filed in June, said the employee in question was fired, that it was cooperating fully with NASA, and that SSL hadn't alleged or inferred the information was used or referred to in any way since the November breach. SSL's complaint, lodged in March, came a month after Orbital sued the U.S. Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency over a contract awarded SSL for satellite servicing technology development (see 1702090045). A U.S. District Court judge in Alexandria, Virginia, earlier this month dismissed (in Pacer) that lawsuit, saying the court didn't have subject matter jurisdiction.