What the FireEye and SolarWinds Data Breach Means for Businesses in 2021

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(Newswire.net — January 18, 2021) —

In light of the disastrous FireEye and SolarWinds data breach, companies around the world are desperate to improve their cybersecurity and avoid the same fate. In 2021 there are certain things that businesses will need to do as a result of this. 

As the year that no one expected comes to a close, network management company SolarWinds saw the effects of a massive data breach that impacted over 18,000 businesses and organizations. Data breaches are bad for business and can put a company’s reputation at stake. 

In just one week, the strength of all U.S. organizations’ cybersecurity came completely into question. Security firm FireEye suffered a disturbing malware attack in which malicious code was embedded into the software they provide to their customers by tech firm SolarWinds. 

According to SolarWinds’ disclosure of the breach on December 13th, this malicious code infected a service that offers software updates for the company’s Orion products. These products are used by 33,000 of their customers, including U.S federal government departments and Fortune 500 companies. 

On the same day as SolarWinds’ announcement, FireEye released an extensive publication detailing the malware infrastructure used in the SolarWinds attack, suggesting that SolarWinds had evidence of the breach (or the potential of it) back in March, insinuating that the FireEye breach was caused by their lack of response.

To move forward in 2021 there are certain things a managed IT service company will be able to do to help. With 24/7 support 365 days a year they will be able to continuously monitor business security. 

By integrating highly scalable infrastructure, they will never have to swap their platforms. They will want to look to use a potential single platform to detect leaks from hundreds of sources so they can look at online file stores, CDNs, paste sites, document sharing sites, and online code repositories. 

In addition, because confidential government information was compromised in the attack, the aftermath of the breach is likely to take a devastating toll on SolarWinds. They will need to look at being able to detect and prevent issues before they can affect information with network monitoring, alongside meeting compliance requirements while protecting data from loss and theft.

Businesses will need to be able to not only protect the data and information they hold but show they are doing everything they can to prevent breaches. They can do this by showing the big changes they are putting into place and the cybersecurity IT support they are investing in. They will need to find the right qualified IT services try to determine how to better secure their infrastructures.

Ultimately, the consequences of this targeted attack are just beginning to unfold. And while it isn’t yet clear exactly how many organizations have been affected by the breach, it’s no surprise that many companies are questioning their cybersecurity measures. In 2021, it will be critical for organizations globally to reevaluate their security and consider more reliable strategies.