SolarWinds is an American software developer company that aim to help businesses manage their networks and technology infrastructure. They provide their services to corporations and government agencies all around the world.

Cybercriminals have compromised one of SolarWinds software platforms, Orion, which thousands of organisations have to help them manage outages on their computer networks and servers. Cybercriminals inserted a malicious code into a software update, which gave them access to customers’ networks.

As customers of SolarWinds are large corporations and government agencies, this is a huge data breach that has impacted many organisations globally.

The breach was discovered by FireEye, a cybersecurity company who uses Orion software, and had identified they had a breach through the software. SolarWinds has stated that they estimate about 18,000 customers have installed the compromised software, leaving their customers vulnerable to spy operations during this year.

FireEye have confirmed they have found infectious software in North America, Europe, Asia and the Middle East, in industries such as healthcare, oil and gas. As it is still a developing situation, the impact of the hack is not known and more information is yet to come.

The versions of Orion that are compromised are listed below:

• 4 HF 5
• 2 with no hotfix installed
• 2 HF 1

To remain informed, you can access the latest information here

References:

Paul, K. 2020, SolarWinds: company at the core of the Orion hack falls under scrutiny, The Guardian, viewed 21 December 2020,<https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2020/dec/16/solarwinds-orion-hack-scrutiny-technology>.

Security Week, 2020, Continious Updates: Everything You Need To Know About the SolarWinds Attack, Security Week, viewed 21 December 2020,<https://www.securityweek.com/continuous-updates-everything-you-need-know-about-solarwinds-attack>.

SolarWinds, 2020, SolarWinds Security Advisory, SolarWinds, viewed 21 December 2020,<https://www.solarwinds.com/securityadvisory>.