News Summary

Tim Brown, the Chief Information Security Officer at SolarWinds, shares his harrowing experience during a global cyber-attack initiated by Russian hackers on December 12, 2020. The attack involved inserting tainted code into SolarWinds’ Orion software, impacting over 300,000 global clients, including major U.S. government departments. Brown recounts the immediate chaos and stress following the attack, where communication was compromised, and operations were disrupted. The company, alongside cybersecurity firm Mandiant, worked tirelessly to manage the crisis. Despite initial estimates of 18,000 affected clients, the actual number was revised to about 100 government agencies and companies. The aftermath saw legal challenges, including a class action lawsuit and an SEC case against SolarWinds and Brown. Brown, who suffered a heart attack due to stress, emphasizes the importance of mental health support during such crises. SolarWinds has since focused on transparency and security improvement, with customer renewal rates returning to over 98%.