SolarWinds cyber attack hit Microsoft.
                     SolarWinds 
cyber attack 
hit Microsoft
INTRODUCTION
• As part of its ongoing investigations in the SolarWinds 
cyberattack, Microsoft has revealed that its internal 
source code was likely accessed by the attackers. 
Source: indianexpress.com
WORLD’S LARGEST CYBERATTACK
• The company had earlier confirmed that it too 
was compromised is what is being seen as one of 
the world’s largest cyberattack, that primarily 
targeted the United States (US) government and 
several other private organisations. 
Source: ctvnews.com
CYBER-SECURITY FIRM FIREEYE
• The SolarWinds cyberattack was first revealed in 
December by cyber-security firm FireEye.
Source: fireeye.com
What has Microsoft revealed in its new 
investigations?
• The internal security investigation team of Microsoft 
finds proof that criminals had breached some of the 
internal source code on the company's platforms.
Source: indianexpress.com
Solorigate incident
• The "Solorigate incident," as Microsoft has called it in 
the blog, shows that there have been tentative 
activities beyond the presence in our environment of 
malicious SolarWinds.
Source: indianexpress.com
What does this mean?
• The source code downloaded by the hackers was not 
verified by Microsoft. However, it is very troubling that 
the hackers are too profound as the source code is vital 
for how every aspect of the programme works. 
Source: theindependent.com
Source code
• Source code is the biggest component in creating a 
software product which could open it up to 
unforeseen threats if corrupted. 
• This knowledge could be used by hackers to 
manipulate possible software vulnerabilities.
Source: cnbc.com
What else has Microsoft revealed?
• Microsoft claims it focuses on the best practices for 
designing open-source applications and the open-source 
community for software creation. 
• Microsoft eliminates the danger of merely viewing the 
source code, not introducing any additional high risks. 
Source: crn.com
What else has been revealed in this SolarWinds 
hack?
• The trouble with this cyber attack is that the entire 
scale is too far unknown. 
• According to the report, the US government actually 
has nothing hard to prove that sensitive government 
secrets have been stolen by hackers.
Source: bloomberg.com
SolarWinds Orion software
• The sheer scale of the attack also remains 
unknown, according to most reports. 
• The malware exploited the SolarWinds Orion 
software, which is used by thousands of 
companies, including several US government 
agencies.
Source: bbc.com