SolarWinds hack a wake-up call to the tech sector

SolarWinds A Wake-Up Call To The Tech Sector | Governments' Lesson | Cyber In :60 | GZERO Media

Marietje Schaake, International Policy Director at Stanford University's Cyber Policy Center and former European Parliamentarian, discusses recent developments on big tech, privacy protection and emerging trends in cyberspace.

What immediate impact has the SolarWinds hack had on private companies?

Now, I hope it's meant a shock into action. The SolarWinds hack should be a wake-up call to all companies selling software, because any kind of negligence to ensure the highest security standards will come back as a boomerang to individual companies, but also to the tech sector collectively. Digitalization has come to mean privatization, and connectivity means vulnerability. Add these up and you can see the trust has to be earned every day.

What should governments do together with the private sector to make the internet safer for tomorrow?

Well, governments should learn from the risk of relying on corporate systems without proper oversight. Assessing who has which insights into risks or intrusions and who should primarily protect, may sound like ABC, but when relying on protecting against state and non-state actors, I'm afraid a lot of aligning and verifying is needed.

More from GZERO Media

Elon Musk carries X Æ A-12 as President Donald Trump speaks in the Oval Office of the White House in Washington, D.C., on Feb. 11, 2025.
REUTERS/Kevin Lamarque

Donald Trump signed an executive order on Tuesday mandating federal agencies comply with Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency, or DOGE, to slash their workforces – ordering agency heads to hire no more than one employee for every four who leave or are fired.

Marc Fogel, an American schoolteacher detained in Russia since August 2021, gestures on an airplane flying him back to the United States after U.S. special envoy Steve Witkoff secured his release February 11, 2025.
Adam Boehler/Handout via REUTERS

3.5: Marc Fogel, a 63-year-old American teacher imprisoned in Russia since 2021 for marijuana possession, has been released following negotiations by US Special Envoy Steve Witkoff. Fogel, who taught at the Anglo-American School of Moscow, served 3.5 years of a 14-year sentence for bringing medical marijuana into the country.

President Donald Trump, Secretary of State Marco Rubio, and Jordan's King Abdullah attend a meeting in the Oval Office at the White House in Washington, on Feb. 11, 2025.
REUTERS/Nathan Howard

King Abdullah II of Jordan visited US President Donald Trump at the White House on Tuesday to discuss Gaza’s post-war future, including Trump’s plan to relocate some 2.1 million Palestinians to other countries in the Middle East.

The first U.S. military aircraft to carry detained migrants to a detention facility at Guantánamo Bay, who Department of Homeland Security spokesperson Tricia McLaughlin called "highly dangerous criminal aliens," is boarded from an unspecified location on Feb. 4, 2025.

DHS/Handout via REUTERS

On Sunday, Judge Kenneth J. Gonzales of the Federal District Court for New Mexico granted a temporary restraining order on jurisdictional grounds barring three Venezuelan men from being moved to the US military base at Guantánamo Bay.

A boy holds a placard depicting U.S. President Donald Trump and India's Prime Minister Narendra Modi during the "Howdy Modi" event in Houston, Texas in 2019. This week the two men will meet for the first time since Trump's re-election.
REUTERS/Jonathan Ernst

The two men have enjoy a famously good rapport, but tough issues are on the agenda.

Plumes of smoke rise during clashes between the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces and the army in Khartoum, Sudan, on Sept. 26, 2024.
REUTERS/Stringer/File Photo

Sudan’s Armed Forces may be headed for a milestone after nearly two years of war with the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces, or RSF. General Abdel Fattah al-Burhan’s forces appear to be closing in on Khartoum, the country’s capital, advancing to within just two kilometers of the country’s presidential palace.

In this new episode of Tools and Weapons, Microsoft's Vice Chair and President Brad Smith and Dr. Fei-Fei Li reflect on poignant moments from her memoir, "The Worlds I See: Curiosity, Exploration, and Discovery at the Dawn of AI," highlighting the crucial role of keeping humanity at the center of AI development. They also explore how government-funded academic research, driven by curiosity rather than profits, can lead to unexpected and profound discoveries that propel innovation and economic opportunities. Dr. Li is a pioneering AI scientist breaking new ground in computer vision, and she is a Stanford professor who is currently leading the innovative start-up World Labs. While her career is deeply rooted in technical expertise, Dr. Li's journey is driven by an insatiable curiosity. Subscribe and find new episodes monthly, wherever you listen to podcasts.

Walmart is fueling American jobs and strengthening communities by investing in local businesses. Athletic Brewing landed a deal with Walmart in 2021. Since then, co-founders Bill Shufelt and John Walker have hired more than 200 employees and built a150,000-square-foot brewery in Milford, CT. Athletic Brewing is one of many US-based suppliers working with Walmart. By 2030, the retailer is estimated to support the creation of over 750,000 US jobs by investing an additional $350 billion in products made, grown, or assembled in America. Learn more about Walmart’s commitment to US manufacturing.