White House Names Cybersecurity Expert to Lead Response to SolarWinds Hack

Following Mr. Biden’s inauguration last month, Ms. Neuberger joined the National Security Council to fill the newly formed role of deputy national security adviser for cyber and emerging technology. She had been running the National Security Agency’s cybersecurity directorate, an arm of the spy agency established in 2019 as part of a wider effort to more closely align its offensive and defensive operations. She also led the Russia Small Group at NSA, which was tasked with preventing Russian interference in the 2018 midterm election.

The statement detailing Ms. Neuberger’s SolarWinds efforts is the most specific to date from the Biden administration on how it is attempting to grapple with the massive hack of federal systems.

On Wednesday, Messrs. Warner and Rubio welcomed news of Ms. Neuberger’s selection. “The committee looks forward to getting regular briefings from Ms. Neuberger and working with her to ensure we fully confront and mitigate this incident as quickly as possible,” they said.

Ms. Neuberger has held a series of consultations with Democrats and Republicans in Congress in her first weeks on the job about the SolarWinds breach, Ms. Horne said.

The SolarWinds hack, which compromised more than a half-dozen federal agencies including the departments of State, Commerce and Treasury, was disclosed in December when it was discovered that suspected Russian actors had compromised the update mechanism used by a little-known, Texas-based software vendor called SolarWinds Corp. to easily infiltrate the company’s customers. The hackers are believed to have entered the systems of an unknown number of private companies, likely several dozens, in the far-reaching cyber espionage campaign.

But as investigators have continued to probe the episode, the scope of the compromise has appeared to take on even larger parameters. Approximately 30% of both the private-sector and government victims linked to the hack campaign had no direct connection to SolarWinds, The Wall Street Journal reported last month.

The White House on Wednesday said it had selected a top National Security Agency official to lead the Biden administration’s response to the sprawling SolarWinds hack, a decision disclosed after growing pressure from lawmakers for more information about the breach.

Anne Neuberger, a senior official at the White House National Security Council, has been in the position since President Biden took office, but administration officials didn’t make her appointment public until Wednesday. She has been leading the handling of the hack fallout since day one of the Biden administration, said Emily Horne, an NSC spokeswoman. Officials didn't say why Ms. Neuberger’s role leading the response wasn’t disclosed sooner.

Ms. Neuberger is focused on directing federal agencies compromised in the hack toward specific remediation solutions and identifying issues in how the government has responded. She has also worked with the private sector on addressing the attack, which may include “potential executive actions underway,” Ms. Horne said, though she didn’t elaborate. Ms. Neuberger is also focused on launching a study of the SolarWinds breach to learn lessons and to prevent such incidents in the future, Ms. Horne said.

On Tuesday, Sens. Mark Warner and Marco Rubio, the Democratic and Republican leaders of the Senate Intelligence Committee, sent a letter to various federal cybersecurity leaders asking for the administration to “empower a clear leader in the United States’ response to the SolarWinds cyber breach that has affected numerous federal agencies.”

The senators also expressed agitation with the lack of details provided thus far to Congress about the hack, which current and former intelligence officials and private-sector cybersecurity experts have widely described as one of the worst hacks on record. The U.S. has blamed Russia for the hack. Moscow has denied involvement.

“The briefings we have received convey a disjointed and disorganized response to confronting the breach,” Messrs. Warner and Rubio wrote. “The threat our country still faces from this incident needs clear leadership to develop and guide a unified strategy for recovery, in particular a leader who has the authority to coordinate the response, set priorities, and direct resources to where they are needed.”

Following Mr. Biden’s inauguration last month, Ms. Neuberger joined the National Security Council to fill the newly formed role of deputy national security adviser for cyber and emerging technology. She had been running the National Security Agency’s cybersecurity directorate, an arm of the spy agency established in 2019 as part of a wider effort to more closely align its offensive and defensive operations. She also led the Russia Small Group at NSA, which was tasked with preventing Russian interference in the 2018 midterm election.

The statement detailing Ms. Neuberger’s SolarWinds efforts is the most specific to date from the Biden administration on how it is attempting to grapple with the massive hack of federal systems.

On Wednesday, Messrs. Warner and Rubio welcomed news of Ms. Neuberger’s selection. “The committee looks forward to getting regular briefings from Ms. Neuberger and working with her to ensure we fully confront and mitigate this incident as quickly as possible,” they said.

Ms. Neuberger has held a series of consultations with Democrats and Republicans in Congress in her first weeks on the job about the SolarWinds breach, Ms. Horne said.

The SolarWinds hack, which compromised more than a half-dozen federal agencies including the departments of State, Commerce and Treasury, was disclosed in December when it was discovered that suspected Russian actors had compromised the update mechanism used by a little-known, Texas-based software vendor called SolarWinds Corp. to easily infiltrate the company’s customers. The hackers are believed to have entered the systems of an unknown number of private companies, likely several dozens, in the far-reaching cyber espionage campaign.

But as investigators have continued to probe the episode, the scope of the compromise has appeared to take on even larger parameters. Approximately 30% of both the private-sector and government victims linked to the hack campaign had no direct connection to SolarWinds, The Wall Street Journal reported last month.

Photo: The update mechanism used by SolarWinds, based in Austin, Texas, was targeted to infiltrate the company’s customers. -  BRONTË WITTPENN/BLOOMBERG NEWS

Link: White House Names Cybersecurity Expert to Lead Response to SolarWinds Hack - WSJ