Hackers used obscure Texas IT vendor to attack US agencies

Following the disclosure of a global cyberespionage campaign that penetrated multiple US government agencies and private organisations, governments and major corporations worldwide are scrambling to see if they, too, were victims. — AP

At the epicenter of the most sprawling cyberattack in recent memory is a two-decade-old, Austin, Texas-based software maker called SolarWinds Corp. While barely known outside geeky tech circles, its customer list boasts of every branch of the US military and four-fifths of the Fortune 500.

Many of those customers found themselves ensnared in the attack because suspected Russian hackers inserted a vulnerability into a popular SolarWinds’ software product, designed to give users a bird’s eye view of the varied web of applications that keep their operations humming.