SOLARWINDS AND THE ART OF CYBERWAR
In the inaugural installment of our new Pacific Council x World Affairs Global Leaders Series, David E. Sanger and Nicole Perlroth of The New York Times discussed the recent supply-chain cyberattack that gave hackers access to potentially thousands of targets in the United States, from the Treasury Department to the Commerce Department to a range of private companies, think tanks, and universities. Presented in partnership with World Affairs.
In December 2020, a sophisticated supply-chain cyberattack was discovered that gave hackers access to potentially thousands of targets in the United States, from the Treasury Department to the Commerce Department to a range of private companies, think tanks, and universities. While President Trump tried to deflect attention from the hack and suggested at one point that China was the source, U.S. intelligence agencies have officially determined it came from Russia. But was it just an espionage campaign—something all nations do to each other—or the prelude for a far more malicious, destructive hack? How were hackers able to use our own vulnerable software supply chains to compromise so many key U.S. companies and government agencies, and how can the United States prevent this from happening again? These are key questions to be answered as the repercussions of the SolarWinds hack are still being unraveled. And how should the Biden administration respond?
This incident is just the latest in an escalating battle that is taking place behind computer screens around the world. David Sanger and Nicole Perlroth, both veteran cybersecurity and national security reporters for The New York Times, joined us to discuss what we know and don’t know about this latest cyber salvo, and what is behind the rise of an enduring nation-state cyber competition that cannot be solved by governments alone. Sanger’s recent book, The Perfect Weapon: War Sabotage and Fear in the Cyber Age, and the HBO documentary of the same name, explores how large and small states are competing and undercutting each other, changing the nature of global power. Perlroth’s just-released book, This Is How They Tell Me The World Ends, reveals the cyberweapons market—the most secretive, invisible, government-backed market on earth. Together, they offered some perspective and gave us a glimpse into this new kind of global warfare.
To learn more, you may also purchase Nicole Perlroth’s This Is How They Tell Me The World Ends through the Last Bookstore to support your local bookseller.
