Niet good at all... FireEye, the go-to cybersecurity firm for government agencies, has suffered a major hack from “a nation with top-tier offensive capabilities.” We don't know for sure yet, but all signs point to Russia. The hack itself came in through software offered by network-monitoring company SolarWinds. Let's Putin perspective:
- Problem: SolarWinds' software is used by hundreds of thousands of orgs, including multiple US federal agencies and most Fortune 500 companies.
- Big problem: The Treasury and Commerce departments were definitely breached, and the Department of Homeland Security might've been.
- Bigger problem: The hackers hacked FireEye's hacking capabilities (say it three times fast). They basically stole FireEye's secret hacking toolkit.
Drop it like it's hacked... FireEye stock has dropped 12% since the news broke, while SolarWinds shares plunged 17%. We don't know much about what was breached — but it could include anything from info on top-secret government operations to data on American citizens. The FBI is investigating.
Counterintuitively, this boosted cybersecurity stocks... While FireEye shares are down, major cybersecurity companies like Palo Alto Networks, Zscaler, and Fortinet are up. That could be because their competitor just suffered a major reputation hit. But it could also be that this hack highlights the importance of cybersecurity, especially in a remote world. No company is 100% hack-proof, including hack-fighting FireEye — that could drive even more cybersecurity spend.