(RightWing.org) – Americans have been acutely aware of cybersecurity issues in recent weeks due to concerns regarding the possibility of election tampering at the hands of hostile foreign actors. In the wake of the election, the Cybersecurity & Infrastructure Agency (CISA) issued an emergency directive this week in response to a major network hack.
CISA handed down Emergency Directive 21-01 on December 13 due to the hack of the SolarWinds Orion platform. The system manages most of the companies on the Fortune 500 list, the top 10 US telecommunications companies, the office of the president of the United States, NASA, and all five armed services branches.
Last night we issued an emergency directive to mitigate the compromise involving SolarWinds Orion products: https://t.co/VFZ81W2Ow7. We urge all our partners—in the public & private sectors—to assess their exposure to this compromise and to secure their networks.
— Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (@CISAgov) December 14, 2020
According to the directive, the only way to secure a system is to disconnect it from SolarWinds’ system. Of particular concern is the potential impact on civilians since such a wide array of governmental systems fell victim to the hack.
Additionally, several of Google’s online services requiring login credentials experienced an outage early in the morning on December 14, causing alarm about the security of Gmail, Google Documents, and other systems containing users’ personal data.
Google claims the problem was internal. However, it might be a good idea for users to change their passwords, just in case. Some cybersecurity companies recommend doing so regularly already.
Copyright 2020, RightWing.org
