Topic: Solarwinds

Sir Tim of House White criticized the government's reliance on "Commercial Off-The-Shelf" (COTS) software, citing the SolarWinds hack as a primary example of the risks. He noted that the USDA spent $500 million on a failed SAP implementation due to the inability to inspect source code. The segment also touched on the political strategy of using COVID-19 to justify massive federal spending.

The SolarWinds cyberattack, attributed to Russian military hackers, reportedly compromised 18,000 government and private networks, including the U.S. Department of Justice. Microsoft President Brad Smith revealed that the intruders also stole proprietary source code. The attack exploited a routine software update in the Orion platform, allowing for nine months of undetected access to top-level communications.

Chris Inglis, the former NSA Deputy Director, has been appointed as the nation's first National Cyber Director following the SolarWinds breach. Inglis admitted that the government failed to detect the hack because it does not surveil private sector networks. Some experts suggest that the only way to ensure systems are clean is to replace all hardware, potentially leading to a massive "hardware bonanza" with new embedded tracking chips.

Microsoft reports a cyber attack on the US Agency for International Development (USAID) by a Russian-linked group known as Nobelium. The hackers reportedly sent malicious emails to human rights organizations critical of Vladimir Putin. The hosts question the reliance on Microsoft for government security and the timing of the report ahead of the Biden-Putin summit.

Joe Biden used his holiday message to criticize the Trump administration's handling of the SolarWinds cyberattack, promising to hold Russia accountable. While Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and Bill Barr have suggested Russian involvement, Biden emphasized that the breach happened on Trump's "watch" and vowed a more aggressive response.

Secretary of State Mike Pompeo publicly attributed the massive SolarWinds cyber attack to Russia, contradicting President Trump's suggestion that China might be responsible. The breach compromised 18,000 organizations, including several federal agencies. Some analysts link the event to warnings from World Economic Forum founder Klaus Schwab regarding a potential "cyber pandemic" that could disrupt global infrastructure.

A major cybersecurity breach involving SolarWinds software has affected the Treasury and Commerce Departments, with officials blaming the Russian SVR. DNI John Ratcliffe notified Congress that the intelligence community's report on foreign election interference will be delayed past the December 18th deadline.