<s>
SolarWinds	B-Operating_System
Corporation	O
is	O
an	O
American	O
company	O
that	O
develops	O
software	O
for	O
businesses	O
to	O
help	O
manage	O
their	O
networks	O
,	O
systems	B-Application
,	O
and	O
information	B-General_Concept
technology	I-General_Concept
infrastructure	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
It	O
has	O
also	O
acquired	O
a	O
number	O
of	O
other	O
companies	O
,	O
some	O
of	O
which	O
it	O
still	O
operates	O
under	O
their	O
original	O
names	O
,	O
including	O
Pingdom	B-Protocol
,	O
Papertrail	O
and	O
Loggly	B-Application
.	O
</s>
<s>
A	O
SolarWinds	B-Operating_System
product	O
,	O
Orion	O
,	O
used	O
by	O
about	O
33,000	O
public	O
and	O
private	O
sector	O
customers	O
,	O
was	O
the	O
focus	O
of	O
a	O
large-scale	O
attack	O
disclosed	O
in	O
December	O
2020	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
attack	O
persisted	O
undetected	O
for	O
months	O
in	O
2020	O
,	O
and	O
additional	O
details	O
about	O
the	O
breadth	O
and	O
depth	O
of	O
compromised	O
systems	B-Application
continued	O
to	O
surface	O
after	O
the	O
initial	O
disclosure	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
SolarWinds	B-Operating_System
began	O
in	O
1999	O
in	O
Tulsa	O
,	O
Oklahoma	O
,	O
co-founded	O
by	O
Donald	O
Yonce	O
(	O
a	O
former	O
executive	O
at	O
Walmart	O
)	O
and	O
his	O
brother	O
David	O
Yonce	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
SolarWinds	B-Operating_System
released	O
its	O
first	O
products	O
,	O
Trace	O
Route	O
and	O
Ping	O
Sweep	O
,	O
earlier	O
in	O
March	O
1998	O
and	O
released	O
its	O
first	O
web-based	O
network	O
performance	O
monitoring	O
application	O
in	O
November	O
2001	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
According	O
to	O
Michael	O
Bennett	O
,	O
who	O
became	O
the	O
chief	O
executive	O
officer	O
in	O
2006	O
,	O
the	O
name	O
SolarWinds	B-Operating_System
was	O
chosen	O
by	O
an	O
early	O
employee	O
and	O
the	O
company	O
has	O
nothing	O
to	O
do	O
with	O
solar	O
or	O
wind	O
power	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
During	O
2007	O
,	O
SolarWinds	B-Operating_System
raised	O
funding	O
from	O
Austin	O
Ventures	O
,	O
Bain	O
Capital	O
,	O
and	O
Insight	O
Venture	O
Partners	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
SolarWinds	B-Operating_System
completed	O
an	O
initial	O
public	O
offering	O
of	O
US	O
$112.5	O
million	O
in	O
May	O
2009	O
,	O
closing	O
at	O
higher	O
prices	O
after	O
its	O
initial	O
day	O
of	O
trading	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
IPO	O
from	O
SolarWinds	B-Operating_System
was	O
followed	O
by	O
another	O
from	O
OpenTable	O
(	O
an	O
online	O
restaurant-reservation	O
service	O
)	O
,	O
which	O
was	O
perceived	O
to	O
break	O
a	O
dry	O
spell	O
during	O
the	O
Great	O
Recession	O
,	O
when	O
very	O
few	O
companies	O
went	O
public	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
In	O
May	O
2013	O
,	O
SolarWinds	B-Operating_System
announced	O
plans	O
to	O
invest	O
in	O
an	O
operations	O
hub	O
in	O
Salt	O
Lake	O
City	O
,	O
Utah	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
By	O
2013	O
,	O
SolarWinds	B-Operating_System
employed	O
about	O
900	O
people	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
was	O
announced	O
in	O
late	O
2015	O
,	O
and	O
by	O
January	O
2016	O
,	O
SolarWinds	B-Operating_System
was	O
taken	O
private	O
in	O
a	O
$4.5	O
billion	O
deal	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
In	O
November	O
2017	O
,	O
SolarWinds	B-Operating_System
released	O
AppOptics	O
which	O
integrates	O
much	O
of	O
their	O
software	O
portfolio	O
,	O
including	O
Librato	O
and	O
TraceView	O
,	O
into	O
a	O
single	O
software-as-a-service	B-Architecture
package	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
AppOptics	O
included	O
compatibility	O
with	O
Amazon	B-Application
Web	I-Application
Services	I-Application
and	O
Microsoft	B-Application
Azure	I-Application
.	O
</s>
<s>
In	O
September	O
2018	O
,	O
SolarWinds	B-Operating_System
filed	O
for	O
a	O
public	O
offering	O
again	O
,	O
after	O
three	O
years	O
of	O
being	O
owned	O
by	O
private	O
equity	O
firms	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
SolarWinds	B-Operating_System
completed	O
their	O
public	O
offering	O
on	O
October	O
19	O
,	O
2018	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
On	O
January	O
8	O
,	O
2021	O
,	O
SolarWinds	B-Operating_System
hired	O
former	O
CISA	O
director	O
Chris	O
Krebs	O
to	O
help	O
the	O
company	O
work	O
through	O
the	O
recent	O
cyber	O
attack	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
In	O
July	O
2021	O
,	O
SolarWinds	B-Operating_System
separated	O
its	O
managed	O
service	O
provider	O
(	O
MSP	O
)	O
business	O
from	O
the	O
main	O
company	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
According	O
to	O
The	O
Wall	O
Street	O
Journal	O
,	O
SolarWinds	B-Operating_System
offers	O
freely	O
downloadable	O
software	O
to	O
potential	O
clients	O
and	O
then	O
markets	O
more	O
advanced	O
software	O
to	O
them	O
by	O
offering	O
trial	O
versions	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Following	O
the	O
funding	O
in	O
2007	O
,	O
SolarWinds	B-Operating_System
acquired	O
several	O
companies	O
including	O
Neon	O
Software	O
and	O
ipMonitor	O
Corp	O
.	O
and	O
opened	O
a	O
European	O
sales	O
office	O
in	O
Ireland	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
During	O
and	O
after	O
its	O
IPO	O
in	O
2009	O
,	O
SolarWinds	B-Operating_System
acquired	O
a	O
number	O
of	O
other	O
companies	O
and	O
products	O
,	O
including	O
the	O
acquisition	O
of	O
the	O
New	O
Zealand	O
–	O
based	O
software	O
maker	O
Kiwi	O
Enterprises	O
,	O
which	O
was	O
announced	O
in	O
January	O
2009	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
SolarWinds	B-Operating_System
acquired	O
several	O
companies	O
in	O
2011	O
and	O
was	O
ranked	O
number	O
10	O
on	O
Forbes	O
magazine	O
's	O
list	O
of	O
fastest-growing	O
tech	O
companies	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
In	O
January	O
2011	O
,	O
it	O
acquired	O
Hyper9	O
Inc	O
,	O
an	O
Austin-based	O
virtualization	B-General_Concept
management	O
company	O
with	O
undisclosed	O
terms	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
In	O
July	O
,	O
SolarWinds	B-Operating_System
completed	O
the	O
acquisition	O
of	O
the	O
Idaho-based	O
network	O
security	O
company	O
TriGeo	O
for	O
$35	O
million	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
TriGeo	O
's	O
offices	O
in	O
Post	O
Falls	O
were	O
added	O
to	O
the	O
list	O
of	O
SolarWinds	B-Operating_System
location	O
which	O
already	O
included	O
satellite	O
offices	O
in	O
Dallas	O
,	O
Salt	O
Lake	O
City	O
,	O
and	O
Tulsa	O
,	O
as	O
well	O
as	O
operations	O
in	O
Australia	O
,	O
the	O
Czech	O
Republic	O
,	O
India	O
,	O
Ireland	O
,	O
and	O
Singapore	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
In	O
2012	O
SolarWinds	B-Operating_System
acquired	O
the	O
patch	O
management	O
software	O
provider	O
EminentWare	O
,	O
and	O
RhinoSoft	O
,	O
adding	O
the	O
latter	O
company	O
's	O
FTP	O
Voyager	O
product	O
to	O
SolarWinds	B-Operating_System
 '	O
product	O
suite	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
In	O
early	O
2013	O
,	O
SolarWinds	B-Operating_System
acquired	O
N-able	O
Technologies	O
,	O
a	O
cloud-based	O
information	B-General_Concept
technology	I-General_Concept
services	O
provider	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
In	O
late	O
2013	O
,	O
it	O
acquired	O
the	O
Boulder	O
,	O
Colorado	O
–	O
based	O
database	O
performance	B-Application
management	I-Application
company	O
Confio	O
Software	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
With	O
the	O
$103	O
million	O
agreement	O
,	O
SolarWinds	B-Operating_System
gained	O
a	O
sales	O
office	O
in	O
London	O
and	O
Confio	O
's	O
main	O
product	O
,	O
Ignite	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Between	O
2014	O
and	O
2015	O
,	O
the	O
company	O
acquired	O
the	O
Swedish	O
web-monitoring	O
company	O
Pingdom	B-Protocol
,	O
the	O
San	O
Francisco	O
–	O
based	O
metrics	O
and	O
monitoring	O
company	O
Librato	O
(	O
for	O
$40	O
million	O
)	O
,	O
and	O
the	O
log	O
management	O
service	O
Papertrail	O
(	O
for	O
$41	O
million	O
)	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Between	O
2015	O
and	O
2020	O
,	O
SolarWinds	B-Operating_System
acquired	O
Librato	O
(	O
a	O
monitoring	O
company	O
)	O
,	O
Capzure	O
Technology	O
(	O
an	O
MSP	O
Manager	O
software	O
to	O
N-able	O
which	O
SolarWinds	B-Operating_System
had	O
previously	O
acquired	O
)	O
,	O
LogicNow	O
(	O
a	O
remote	O
monitoring	O
software	O
company	O
)	O
,	O
SpamExperts	O
(	O
an	O
email	O
security	O
company	O
)	O
,	O
Loggly	B-Application
(	O
a	O
log	O
management	O
and	O
analytics	O
company	O
)	O
,	O
Trusted	O
Metrics	O
(	O
a	O
provider	O
of	O
threat	O
monitoring	O
and	O
management	O
software	O
)	O
,	O
Samanage	O
(	O
a	O
service	O
desk	O
and	O
IT	O
asset	O
management	O
provider	O
)	O
,	O
VividCortex	O
(	O
a	O
database	O
performance	O
monitor	O
)	O
,	O
and	O
SentryOne	O
(	O
a	O
provider	O
of	O
database	O
performance	O
monitoring	O
)	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
On	O
December	O
13	O
,	O
2020	O
,	O
The	O
Washington	O
Post	O
reported	O
that	O
multiple	O
government	O
agencies	O
were	O
breached	O
through	O
SolarWinds	B-Operating_System
's	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
According	O
to	O
Microsoft	O
,	O
hackers	O
acquired	O
superuser	B-Application
access	O
to	O
SAML	O
token-signing	O
certificates	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Prominent	O
international	O
SolarWinds	B-Operating_System
customers	O
investigating	O
whether	O
they	O
were	O
impacted	O
include	O
the	O
North	O
Atlantic	O
Treaty	O
Organization	O
(	O
NATO	O
)	O
,	O
the	O
European	O
Parliament	O
,	O
UK	O
Government	O
Communications	O
Headquarters	O
,	O
the	O
UK	O
Ministry	O
of	O
Defence	O
,	O
the	O
UK	O
National	O
Health	O
Service	O
(	O
NHS	O
)	O
,	O
the	O
UK	O
Home	O
Office	O
,	O
and	O
AstraZeneca	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
attack	O
used	O
a	O
backdoor	O
in	O
a	O
SolarWinds	B-Operating_System
library	B-Library
;	O
when	O
an	O
update	O
to	O
SolarWinds	B-Operating_System
occurred	O
,	O
the	O
malicious	O
attack	O
would	O
go	O
unnoticed	O
due	O
to	O
the	O
trusted	O
certificate	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
In	O
November	O
2019	O
,	O
a	O
security	O
researcher	O
notified	O
SolarWinds	B-Operating_System
that	O
their	O
FTP	B-Protocol
server	I-Protocol
had	O
a	O
weak	O
default	O
password	O
of	O
"	O
solarwinds123	O
"	O
,	O
warning	O
that	O
"	O
any	O
hacker	O
could	O
upload	O
malicious	O
 [ code ] 	O
 "	O
that	O
would	O
then	O
be	O
distributed	O
to	O
SolarWinds	B-Operating_System
customers	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
New	O
York	O
Times	O
reported	O
SolarWinds	B-Operating_System
did	O
not	O
employ	O
a	O
chief	O
information	O
security	O
officer	O
and	O
that	O
employee	O
passwords	O
had	O
been	O
posted	O
on	O
GitHub	B-Application
in	O
2019	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
On	O
December	O
15	O
,	O
2020	O
,	O
SolarWinds	B-Operating_System
reported	O
the	O
breach	O
to	O
the	O
Securities	O
and	O
Exchange	O
Commission	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
However	O
,	O
SolarWinds	B-Operating_System
continued	O
to	O
distribute	O
malware-infected	O
updates	O
,	O
and	O
did	O
not	O
immediately	O
revoke	O
the	O
compromised	O
digital	O
certificate	O
used	O
to	O
sign	O
them	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
On	O
December	O
16	O
,	O
2020	O
,	O
German	O
IT	O
news	O
portal	O
Heise.de	O
reported	O
that	O
SolarWinds	B-Operating_System
had	O
for	O
some	O
time	O
been	O
encouraging	O
customers	O
to	O
disable	O
anti-malware	B-Application
tools	O
before	O
installing	O
SolarWinds	B-Operating_System
products	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
On	O
December	O
17	O
,	O
2020	O
,	O
SolarWinds	B-Operating_System
said	O
they	O
would	O
revoke	O
the	O
compromised	O
certificates	O
by	O
December	O
21	O
,	O
2020	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
On	O
December	O
21	O
,	O
2020	O
,	O
Attorney	O
General	O
William	O
Barr	O
stated	O
that	O
he	O
believed	O
that	O
the	O
SolarWinds	B-Operating_System
hack	O
appears	O
to	O
have	O
been	O
perpetrated	O
by	O
Russia	O
,	O
contradicting	O
speculations	O
by	O
President	O
Donald	O
Trump	O
that	O
China	O
,	O
not	O
Russia	O
,	O
might	O
be	O
to	O
blame	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
In	O
late	O
December	O
2020	O
,	O
Trustwave	O
,	O
a	O
cybersecurity	O
firm	O
,	O
reached	O
out	O
to	O
SolarWinds	B-Operating_System
to	O
report	O
new	O
security	O
flaws	O
they	O
had	O
discovered	O
in	O
software	O
produced	O
by	O
SolarWinds	B-Operating_System
.	O
</s>
<s>
Although	O
these	O
vulnerabilities	O
had	O
n't	O
been	O
taken	O
advantage	O
of	O
by	O
hackers	O
,	O
it	O
raised	O
questions	O
concerning	O
the	O
network	O
security	O
of	O
SolarWinds	B-Operating_System
 '	O
customers	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
On	O
March	O
1	O
,	O
2021	O
,	O
SolarWinds	B-Operating_System
CEO	O
,	O
Sudhakar	O
Ramakrishna	O
,	O
blamed	O
a	O
company	O
intern	O
for	O
using	O
an	O
insecure	O
password	O
(	O
"	O
solarwinds123	O
"	O
)	O
on	O
their	O
update	O
server	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
On	O
December	O
19	O
,	O
2020	O
,	O
Microsoft	O
said	O
that	O
its	O
investigations	O
into	O
supply	O
chain	O
attacks	O
at	O
SolarWinds	B-Operating_System
had	O
found	O
evidence	O
of	O
an	O
attempted	O
supply	O
chain	O
attack	O
distinct	O
from	O
the	O
attack	O
in	O
which	O
SUNBURST	O
malware	O
was	O
inserted	O
into	O
Orion	O
binaries	O
(	O
see	O
previous	O
section	O
)	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
SUPERNOVA	O
comprises	O
a	O
very	O
small	O
number	O
of	O
changes	O
to	O
the	O
Orion	O
source	O
code	O
,	O
implementing	O
a	O
web	O
shell	O
that	O
acts	O
as	O
a	O
remote	B-Protocol
access	I-Protocol
tool	I-Protocol
.	O
</s>
<s>
SolarWinds	B-Operating_System
's	O
share	O
price	O
fell	O
25%	O
within	O
days	O
of	O
the	O
SUNBURST	O
breach	O
becoming	O
public	O
knowledge	O
,	O
and	O
40%	O
within	O
a	O
week	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
In	O
November	O
2021	O
Microsoft	O
issued	O
an	O
alert	O
in	O
relation	O
to	O
the	O
advanced	O
persistent	O
threat	O
(	O
APT	O
)	O
actor	O
Nobelium	O
(	O
aka	O
APT29	O
;	O
Cozy	O
Bear	O
)	O
that	O
was	O
responsible	O
for	O
the	O
2020	O
SolarWinds	B-Operating_System
supply	O
chain	O
attack	O
is	O
targeting	O
cloud	O
service	O
providers	O
(	O
CSPs	O
)	O
,	O
managed	O
service	O
providers	O
(	O
MSPs	O
)	O
,	O
and	O
other	O
IT	O
service	O
providers	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
In	O
January	O
2021	O
,	O
a	O
class	O
action	O
lawsuit	O
was	O
filed	O
against	O
SolarWinds	B-Operating_System
in	O
relation	O
to	O
its	O
security	O
failures	O
and	O
subsequent	O
fall	O
in	O
share	O
price	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
SolarWinds	B-Operating_System
attempted	O
to	O
have	O
this	O
case	O
dismissed	O
;	O
in	O
March	O
2022	O
,	O
a	O
judge	O
ruled	O
that	O
the	O
class	O
action	O
lawsuit	O
could	O
move	O
forward	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
SolarWinds	B-Operating_System
settled	O
the	O
suit	O
for	O
$26	O
million	O
in	O
November	O
2022	O
,	O
and	O
was	O
notified	O
by	O
the	O
SEC	O
that	O
it	O
intended	O
to	O
take	O
enforcement	O
action	O
.	O
</s>
