Gadgets
SolarWinds Hack: Wide-Ranging Probe Sparks Fear in Corporate America
The SEC is asking companies to turn over records into “any other” data breach or ransomware attack dating back to October 2019 if they downloaded a bugged network-management software update from SolarWinds, which delivers products used across corporate America, according to details of the letters shared with Reuters.
People familiar with the inquiry say the requests may reveal numerous unreported cyber incidents unrelated to the Russian espionage campaign, giving the SEC a rare level of insight into previously unknown incidents that the companies likely never intended to disclose.
“I’ve never seen anything like this,” said a consultant who works with dozens of publicly traded companies that recently received the request. “What companies are concerned about is they don’t know how the SEC will use this information. And most companies have had unreported breaches since then.” The consultant spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss his experience.
An SEC official said the request’s intent was to find other breaches relevant to the SolarWinds incident.
The SEC told companies they would not be penalised if they shared data about the SolarWinds hack voluntarily, but did not offer that amnesty for other compromises.
Cyberattacks have grown in both frequency and impact, prompting deep concern in the White House over the last year. US officials have faulted companies for failing to disclose such events, arguing that it conceals the extent of the problem from shareholders, policymakers and law enforcement looking for the worst offenders.
People familiar with the SEC investigation told Reuters the letters went to hundreds of companies, including many in the technology, finance and energy sectors, thought to be potentially affected by the SolarWinds attacks. That number exceeds the 100 that the Department of Homeland Security said had downloaded the bad SolarWinds software and then had it exploited.
Since last year, only about two dozen firms have been publicly identified as impacted, including Microsoft, Cisco Systems, FireEye, and Intel. Of those contacted for this story only Cisco confirmed receiving the SEC letter. A Cisco spokesperson said it has responded to the SEC’s request.
Cybersecurity research has also suggested software maker Qualys and oil energy company Chevron Corp were among those targeted in the Russian cyber operation. Both declined to comment on the SEC investigation.
About 18,000 clients of SolarWinds downloaded a hacked version of its software, which the cybercriminals manipulated for potential future access. Yet only a small subset of those customers saw follow-on hacking activity, suggesting the attackers infected far more companies than they ultimately victimised.
The SEC sent letters last month to companies believed to have been affected, following an initial round sent in June, according to six sources who have seen the letters.
The second wave of requests were addressed to recipients at companies from the first round who had not responded. The exact number of recipients is unclear.
The current probe is “unprecedented” in terms of the lack of clarity over the SEC’s goal in such a large sweep, said Jina Choi, a partner at Morrison & Foerster and former SEC director who has worked on cybersecurity cases.
Though the SEC issued guidance a decade ago calling for companies to disclose hacks that could be material, then updated that guidance in 2018, most admissions have been vague.
Gary Gensler, who took the helm at the SEC in April, has tasked the agency with issuing new disclosure requirements ranging from cybersecurity to climate risk.
While the hack was first reported by Reuters more than nine months ago, the actual impact of the wide-scale digital spying operation, which US officials say came from a Russian intelligence service, remains largely unknown.
Government officials have shied away from sharing a comprehensive account of what was stolen or what the Russians were after, but described it as traditional government espionage.
Scores of companies have referred to the hacks in SEC filings, but many cite the events only as an example of the sort of intrusion they might one day experience. Most that say they had SolarWinds software installed add that they do not believe their most sensitive data was taken.
John Reed Stark, former head of the SEC’s office of internet enforcement, said “companies will struggle to answer these questions – not just because these are broad, sweeping and all-encompassing requests, but also because the SEC is bound to discover some sort of mistake” in what they’ve previously disclosed.
“At Xbox, we believe that with better tools, creators can make even more extraordinary games,” Haiyan Zhang, GM, Xbox Gaming AI, said in a blog post. “This partnership will bring together: Inworld’s expertise in working with generative AI models for character development, Microsoft’s cutting-edge cloud-based AI solutions including Azure OpenAI Service, Microsoft Research’s technical insights into the future of play, and Team Xbox’s strengths in revolutionizing accessible and responsible creator tools for all developers.”
The aforementioned AI design copilot is a toolset that will help game designers turn prompts into scripts and dialogue trees. In contrast, the character runtime will enable dynamically generated plot beats and quests. We’ve already seen heavy AI integration in games by way of procedural generation — a more recent example being the 1000+ planets in Starfield. Not to mention, enemy AI has been around for way longer.
Inworld made headlines in August when it launched a modded story mode for Grand Theft Auto V, Sentient Streets, in which players had to investigate the rise of a bizarre AI-worshipping cult — a segment loaded with characters that spoke in AI-generated dialogue, on the fly. The mod was later taken down by publisher Take-Two, leaving a permanent strike on the creator Bloc’s YouTube channel. As per The Verge, Inworld’s AI technology can also be used for narration in top-down RPGs to warn players about any events awaiting off-screen and respond to questions like we’ve seen in the past year with AI chatbots like ChatGPT and Bing Chat. Microsoft has also been heavily banking on artificial intelligence, having made a $10 billion (about Rs. 83,254 crore) investment in OpenAI. The company has also integrated AI tools into its popular suite of services and also added an AI copilot to Windows.
Despite being a Microsoft-affiliated AI toolset, it would be interesting to see whether titles using them will be allowed to thrive on other platforms. In July, Valve claimed that it would be cracking down on games that included AI-generated assets if the developer didn’t own the copyright to the piece of art. For the uninitiated, when you insert a prompt to create something in AI, the software simply repurposes existing assets found online and mushes them together — basically stealing from other artists and writers without appropriate commercial licenses. Infringing them would lead to the game not being distributed on Steam, forcing the developers to seek proper licenses for the asset by reaching out to the AI companies involved. It’s unclear how Microsoft’s partnership will play out — as long as AI content is being used as a catalyst to innovate and create something new, it should be fine.
In a post on X shared by BSNL’s Andhra Pradesh (@bsnl_ap_circle) unit, the company confirmed that BSNL users can upgrade their older 2G or 3G SIMs to a 4G SIM for free. Not only will the upgrade be free, but a promotional image shared with the post suggests that users who opt for the upgrade will also receive 4GB of free data that will be valid for three months. It is speculated that BSNL is aiming to boost its upcoming 4G services with this offer. The announcement was first spotted by Telecom Talk.
To access the free data offer and the free upgrade, BSNL users are requested to get in touch with executives at BSNL’s Customer Service Centre, franchisee or retailer stores, or contact one of their Direct Selling Agents (DSA). The promo image also adds in a finer print that the offer is available with certain terms and conditions, but hasn’t detailed any, so far.
Reliance’s Jio recently launched the 4G-supported Bharat B1 feature phone in India. The handset is priced at Rs. 1,299 in India. Alongside 4G connectivity, the phone comes with JioCinema and JioSaavn applications pre-installed.
The Jio Bharat B1 is equipped with the JioPay application, which is said to allow users to make UPI payments. Aiming to increase accessibility, the phone supports 23 languages overall, including multiple regional languages.
Realme, via Weibo, announced the arrival of the Realme GT 5 Pro in China. The display of the handset is confirmed to offer 3000 nits peak brightness. It has also been teased to offer heat dissipation with a surface area of around 10,000mm2. It is confirmed to ship with Qualcomm’s new Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 SoC. The post doesn’t specify the exact launch date of the smartphone, however, given the release of the teasers, the launch could be just around the corner.
The Realme GT 5 Pro has been in the news a lot lately. It is expected to feature a 6.78-inch (1,264×2,780 pixels) AMOLED display and is tipped to come in 8GB, 12GB, and 16GB RAM options along with 128GB, 256GB, 512GB, and 1TB inbuilt storage options.
For optics, the Realme GT 5 Pro is said to have a triple rear camera unit comprising two 50-megapixel sensors and an 8-megapixel shooter at the rear. The camera setup might include a Sony LYTIA LYT808 sensor, an OmniVision OV08D10 secondary sensor, and a Sony IMX890 telephoto sensor. For selfies, there could be a 32-megapixel sensor at the front. It is said to carry a 5,400mAh battery with support for 100W wired charging and 50W wireless charging.
The Realme GT 5 Pro is expected to come with upgrades over Realme GT 5. The latter was launched in China in August with a price tag of CNY 2,999 for the base model with 12GB of RAM and 256GB of storage.
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