The service companies are known within the industry as original equipment manufacturers, or OEMs. They sometimes have remote access to critical parts of customer networks, as well as privileges that let them make changes to those networks, install new software, or even control critical operations. This means that hackers who breached the OEMs could potentially use their credentials to control critical customer processes.
“If an OEM has access to a network, and it’s bi-directional, it’s usually for more sensitive equipment like turbine control, and you could actually do disruptive actions,” Lee told The Intercept. “But just because you have access doesn’t mean you know what to do or how to do it. It doesn’t mean they can then flip off the lights; they have to do more after that.”
It’s not quite clear. By
Anagha Srikanth | Dec. 23, 2020
States and localities are still determining how best to distribute the limited doses of the COVID-19 vaccine that are now available.
Essential workers are on the top of that list, but there are differing understandings of who is covered under that title.
Pharmacies and other health care providers are seeking direction from their local authorities.
For months, essential workers have put their own health on the line to take care of others and keep the country running. But as states face the difficult decision of who to give limited doses of the COVID-19 vaccine to, the question becomes, who is more essential?
Wide-reaching hack has defense firms on their toes Some defense contractors, like hundreds of other companies, used the software breached by hackers. (WhataWin/Getty Images) WASHINGTON ― Some of the country’s leading defense firms are likely among the 18,000 SolarWinds customers that may have been swept up in one of the country’s worst cyber espionage failures, but investigations to determine the scope of the hackers’ reach will take significant time. Experts say there simply are not enough skilled threat-hunting teams to identify all the government and private-sector systems that may have been probed. FireEye, the cybersecurity company that discovered the intrusion into U.S. agencies and was among the victims, has already tallied dozens of casualties. It’s racing to identify more but already, Lockheed Martin, Microsoft, and Booz Allen Hamilton have acknowledged they use SolarWinds products.
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