SolarWinds hack 'carried out from within US'

By Barclay Ballard
published

But Russian actors are reportedly still to blame

Zero-day attack
(Image credit: Shutterstock.com)

The latest evidence from the investigation into the SolarWinds (opens in new tab) hack suggests that the attack was carried out from within the US - but it is still believed that Russia was ultimately responsible for the cyberattack.

In a press briefing, Deputy National Security Advisor Anne Neuberger explained that the investigation into the SolarWinds hack was still in its “beginning stages.” Since the attack came to light in December last year, more information has come to light gradually. As well as multiple private companies being affected, nine federal agencies were also compromised.  

Although it is not currently clear how the SolarWinds attack was carried out, Neuberger was able to confirm that it was launched from within the US. It has been suggested that a domestic attack may have made it more difficult for US cybersecurity teams to identify the hack, as they often focus on international threats.

The investigation continues

The SolarWinds hack has been called the “largest and most sophisticated attack the world has ever seen.” The breach involved SolarWinds Orion network monitoring (opens in new tab) software, which is used by an estimated 18,000 customers. Among these, it is believed that a smaller number of targets were subjected to follow-up intrusions.

Among the most worrying developments is the number of government agencies that have fallen victim to the SolarWinds hack. Although not all of the names of the affected government bureaus have been shared, it is known that the US Department of Energy and the National Nuclear Security Administration were both targeted.

Among more recent revelations concerning the hack, it was revealed that thousands of software developers (opens in new tab) were likely to have been involved and that 4,032 lines of code (opens in new tab) were used. With the investigation ongoing, it is likely that further disclosures will be forthcoming soon.

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Barclay Ballard
Barclay Ballard

Barclay has been writing about technology for a decade, starting out as a freelancer with ITProPortal covering everything from London’s start-up scene to comparisons of the best cloud storage services.  After that, he spent some time as the managing editor of an online outlet focusing on cloud computing, furthering his interest in virtualization, Big Data, and the Internet of Things. 



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