SolarWinds CEO reveals hackers had access to firm's emails for at least NINE months

Feb 3, 2021 10:00 am Cyber Security 215

SolarWinds CEO reveals hackers had access to firm’s emails for at least NINE months

Suspected Russian hackers accessed at least one of company's Office 365 email accounts by as early as December 2019

Hackers moved to compromise other Office 365 accounts within SolarWinds, according to Solarwinds CEO Sudhakar Ramakrishna

In late December, the nation's top security agencies were rocked by an unprecedented breach when it emerged SolarWinds had been hacked

By Rachael Bunyan For Mailonline and Reuters

Published: 17:37 EST, 2 February 2021 | Updated: 04:57 EST, 3 February 2021

The SolarWinds CEO has revealed hackers in a massive suspected Russian cyber attack had access to the firm's emails for at least nine months.

Suspected Russian hackers gained access to software made by the Texas-based company, and used it as a springboard to penetrate federal government networks.

Solarwinds CEO Sudhakar Ramakrishna said the hackers accessed at least one of the firm's Office 365 email accounts by as early as December 2019, and then moved to compromise other Office 365 accounts within the company.

'Some email accounts were compromised,' Mr Ramakrishna told the Wall Street Journal. 'That led them to compromise other email accounts and as a result our broader [Office] 365 environment was compromised.'

solarwinds reveals hackers access emails least months