ALERT: SolarWinds & FireEye

12/28/2020 12:23 PM By Chuck F

Tips to protect yourself against the SolarWinds Breach

Are you concerned your business has been affected by the SolarWinds hack?

Are you concerned your business has been affected by the SolarWinds hack?

Unfortunately, Cyber Attacks don’t take time off to celebrate with family and friends. Due to the recent news about FireEye discovering the major SolarWinds hack we want to make sure you are equipped and prepared. Cloud 9 and our cybersecurity vendors are receiving numerous inquiries about the recent cyber-attacks on Solarwinds. 


Most people have never heard of SolarWinds, which provides IT infrastructure management tools to hundreds of thousands of customers including government agencies, corporations, and nonprofit organizations. SolarWinds boasts of 300,000 global customers of whom include most of the S&P 500, hundreds of colleges and universities, and many of the country’s most important government agencies including the US State DepartmentDepartment of Commerce, US Treasury, Department of Homeland Security, and the National Institutes of Health to name a few.


News sources are saying this is the biggest cyber attack from a nation state in US history. Many are blaming a state-sponsored attack from Russia, some say the Russian group "Cozy Bear", still fewer have said that China may be involved. Even though the main target appears to be the US Government the threat goes much deeper giving the attackers administrative access to critical systems of potentially every SolarWinds customer. Because the attacks were targeted against a hugely popular and widely used IT infrastructure monitoring software the effects will be catastrophic to many commercial businesses around the globe. 


"This is a huge problem for two major reasons: The attackers were able to gain access for a long period of time without being detected, and it will also take a long time for security experts to determine the extent of what's been compromised." - Business Insider


Here are just a few headlines from several news outlets about the breach: 

If you are concerned you could be at risk, please reach out to Cloud 9 immediately. Our vendor-neutral cybersecurity experts will help to validate any concerns, plot the best course of action, and determine the ideal Risk Assessment and Security Assessment services and vendors for your organization. This will give you the ability to inspect all targeted areas within your environment for active malware and other vulnerabilities.


If you are experiencing questionable activity or are concerned in any way...
  1. Describe the suspicious activity.
  2. When did you first notice it?
  3. Are you a SolarWinds customer?
    • If so, what have you done so far? 
    • If not, what monitoring services do you use?
  4. Are any of your technology service providers a SolarWinds client? If so, who?
  5. Have you noticed any impact to your business? If so, what?
  6. Have you communicated the suspicious activity anyone else? (Executive team, corporate attorney, cyber-insurance provider, etc…)


Immediate next steps – contact Cloud 9 for help and guidance to find the right cybersecurity solution, service, and vendor for initial triage and long-term protection.

Cloud 9 is here to help. Our Vendor Selection and Vendor Management services are free to our clients and are designed to help you determine the best course of action and quickly narrow the focus to the best solutions and vendors for your specific needs. 


Learn more about Cybersecurity


As a client you'll have guided access to our proprietary Pathfinder app and experts. We'll get you started down the right path, focused on the right solutions, and narrow down the right vendors to evaluate.


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