By Wesley K. Clark , Peter L. Levin
Feb 01, 2021
The SolarWinds hack gave digital intruders unprecedented access to the networks of government agencies and most of the Fortune 500 an extremely serious compromise of our nation’s electronic infrastructure. Our intelligence community is still scrambling to understand what has been lost; many believe it is the most serious cybersecurity breach in history.
Because we are increasingly dependent on technology services especially in the pandemic year our adversaries have a large attack surface to probe and exploit. Their primary incentive today is probably voyeuristic surveillance: to see who is connected to whom, what they say, how they say it and when they communicate with each other. But we must assume deeper, more malevolent intentions now that intruders have knowledge of our networks. If there were ever a kinetic conflict, with physical incursion and real violence, the infiltration (and possibly already-implanted malware) cou
Government cyber breach shows need for convergence Maj. Chuck Suslowicz , Jan Kallberg , and LTC Todd Arnold December 28, 2020 What does the latest government breach teach us about the interconnection between offensive and defensive cyber operations? (Thitichaya Yajampa/Getty Images) The SolarWinds breach points out the importance of having both offensive and defensive cyber force experience. The breach is an ongoing investigation, and we will not comment on the investigation. Still, in general terms, we want to point out the exploitable weaknesses in creating two silos OCO and DCO. The separation of OCO and DCO, through the specialization of formations and leadership, undermines broader understanding and value of threat intelligence. The growing demarcation between OCO and DCO also have operative and tactical implications. The Multi-Domain Operations (MDO) concept emphasizes the competitive advantages that the Army and greater Department of Defense can br
Andrej Sokolow/picture alliance via Getty Images
Suspected Russian government hackers breached the computer networks of the US Defense Department. The Commerce Department. The Treasury Department. The State Department. Homeland Security. Even the part of the Energy Department that oversees America’s nuclear arsenal.
It’s one of the largest and most brazen hacks in American history and it may just be the beginning of a much larger global espionage effort.
What makes it even more troubling is that it’s still unclear precisely what they got access to. Some experts believe it may take years before the hackers are completely out of the US government’s networks and the full extent of their spying efforts are understood.