Alex Stamos Attributes SolarWinds Hack To Russian Intel Service
New SolarWinds consultant Alex Stamos says the Russian foreign intelligence service is responsible for the massive hacking effort, although SolarWinds itself isn’t attributing the attacks to a specific group or nation. By Michael Novinson February 04, 2021, 03:01 PM EST
New SolarWinds consultant Alex Stamos became one of the first public figures to attribute the massive hacking campaign against SolarWinds to the Russian foreign intelligence service, or SVR.
Stamos said Thursday that the SVR also known as APT29 or Cozy Bear excels at covering its tracks and quietly exfiltrating information from victims so it’s not noticed. Stamos, who was Facebook’s security chief, started last month as an independent consultant at SolarWinds, working alongside ex-Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency Director Chris Krebs to assist with crisis response.
Another Mega Group Spy Scandal? Samanage, Sabotage, And The SolarWinds Hack
The devastating hack on SolarWinds was quickly pinned on Russia by US intelligence. A more likely culprit, Samanage, a company whose software was integrated into SolarWinds’ software just as the “back door” was inserted, is deeply tied to Israeli intelligence and intelligence-linked families such as the Maxwells.
In mid-December of 2020, a massive hack compromised the networks of numerous US federal agencies, major corporations, the top five accounting firms in the country, and the military, among others. Despite most US media attention now focusing on election-related chaos, the fallout from the hack continues to make headlines day after day.
Federal Agencies Release Statement on Investigation into Cybersecurity Incident kvoa.com - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from kvoa.com Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
By Justin Katz
Jan 13, 2021
Russia is the likely culprit of the widespread hack of U.S. networks, a White House task force concluded.
Since the attack, analysts and some administration officials have suggested a Russian intelligence service is behind the attack on SolarWinds Orion product, but the Jan. 5 statement from the Cyber Unified Coordination Group which includes the FBI, the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency, the National Security Agency and the Office of the Director of National Intelligence is the first time the federal government has explicitly attributed the attack to Russia. This work indicates that an Advanced Persistent Threat actor, likely Russian in origin, is responsible for most or all of the recently discovered, ongoing cyber compromises of both government and non-governmental networks, the statement reads.