What happened
Shares of several network security companies went up on Friday, following the series making it a major network infrastructure expert SolarWinds (NYSE: SWI). Here are some of today’s most famous trends inspired by the SolarWinds attack:
|
Company |
Specialization |
Largest stock price jump on 12/12/2020 |
CAPS Score (Out of 5) |
|---|---|---|---|
|
FireEye (NASDAQ: FEYE) |
General security |
32.8% |
3 |
|
Qualys (NASDAQ: QLYS) |
Cloud compliance and security |
17.4% |
3 |
|
CyberArk software (NASDAQ: CYBR) |
Account security and management |
16.2% |
4 |
|
Proofpoint (NASDAQ: PFPT) |
Enterprise security |
11.5% |
4 |
Database: Yahoo! Finance and Motley Fool CAPS.
so what
SolarWinds makes a popular network management tool called Orion, which is used by a large percentage of enterprise class networks around the world. Earlier this week, FireEye said the company itself had suffered a successful network attack that used methods never seen before. The attackers walked away with access to some of the FireEye security assessment tools, which could be useful to bad guys in the form of offensive weapons.
The hackers then used FireEye tools in partnership with Orion to steal sensitive data from businesses and governments around the world. Many security experts agree that the attacks are led by an organization called Cozy Bear, which is backed by the Russian government. About 18,000 groups downloaded an infectious version of Orion SolarWinds, though only 40 of those accounts appear to have seen other attacks.
I accept that account information, thank you very much! Image source: Getty Images.
The fully targeted nature of this attack makes it difficult for data security researchers to sleep at night.
“I woke up in the middle of the night just sick to my stomach,” White House deputy chief information officer Theresa Payton told CNN Business. “On a scale of 1 to 10, I’m at level 9 – and no there because of what I know; it’s because of what we don’t know yet. “
The Cozy Bear attack naturally brought FireEye’s share price lower last week, followed by sharp cuts to SolarWinds as the nature of this Orion-based threat came to light. Further details were released on Friday, which is why investors are expecting a big rush for high-quality security tools for enterprise and government networks.
SolarWinds fell as much as 18.2% on Friday.
SWI data with YCharts
Now what
All the big moves listed above make perfect sense today. The Orion attack made it clear that large organizations need a number of special security tools to fight against an increasingly sophisticated range of cyberattacks.
It may be strange that FireEye was forgiven so quickly, after admitting that the early stages of this attack were based on the company’s own security tools. FireEye was also quick to shed the beans, begin an in-depth review of the entire program, and keep the public up to date with progress. Accepting your mistakes and then taking action to fix them is a great way to build trust, which is a vital part of doing business in the cybersecurity sector.