SolarWinds Breach

SolarWinds is a company headquartered in Austin, Texas. It was founded by David and Donald Yonce in 1999 and has over 2,000 employees. The company specializes in business software, helping them manage networks, information technology infrastructure, and systems.

What Was the Breach?

The breach is often referred to as one of the biggest data breaches in history. The breach was an issue stemming from an attack on SoftWinds’ Orion system. Orion is an IT performance monitor with thousands of users, the majority of which are companies. Ergo, there are most likely millions of victims that had nothing to do with Orion itself.

How Did the Breach Occur?

The breach occurred with malware embedded in SolarWinds’ internal systems. The malware was distributed when SolarWinds delivered a routine Orion update to users, which affected tens of thousands of entities. As of 2020, over 30,000 companies used Orion.

When Did This Breach Occur?

This breach occurred in December 2020.

Who Does the Breach Impact?

The breach impacts the customers of the victimized companies. There were thousands of entities affected, and each of these companies had an undisclosed amount of customers. Anyone that uses any of these companies is at risk.

How Many Files Does the Breach Affect?

In total honesty, there is no exact number of affected files known. What we do know is that the accessed systems pertained to customer and partner data; this means that the victim list could go on exponentially.