In December 2020, it was first reported that SolarWinds, a major US information technology firm, experienced a massive cyberattack which affected up to 18,000 clients, including numerous US government agencies and Fortune 500 companies whose networks and data were exposed and vulnerable for months.
Described by Microsoft’s president Brad Smith, one of the affected clients, as “the largest and most sophisticated attack the world has ever seen,” the US government investigation attributed the cyberattack to Russian intelligence, with Russia then denying responsibility. As details continue to emerge, the implications will affect a range of sensitive activities—from software supply chain management to strategies to protect critical infrastructure, to new approaches in national and global cybersecurity.
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