IDX President and CEO Tom Kelly Briefs Congressional Delegation on SolarWinds Hack, Privacy Policy Implications

Leading digital privacy expert discusses the cybersecurity threats and risk of future data vulnerabilities

Tom Kelly, president and CEO of IDX, the leading consumer privacy platform and data breach services provider, recently briefed numerous United States government officials on the implications of the recent SolarWinds cyberattack, an online assault unprecedented in depth and scope. The hack is believed to have been spearheaded by the Russian SVR Intelligence Service, having breached up to 12,000 organizations and gained access to sensitive data, such as unclassified emails from government officials and correspondence from gas, oil, technology companies, and more.

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“It was an honor to speak among such a powerful group of decision-makers and executives in the space. As we know, the SolarWinds hack has had a profound impact on U.S. government and commercial organizations compromised by this foreign actor,” said Tom Kelly. “I predict that the implications of the hack will prove far-reaching and ultimately result in significant compromise to the privacy of American consumers.”

The timely virtual forum was hosted by Principal to Principal, which convened senior government and policy officials from all over the country to focus primarily on the risks resulting from this cyber compromise to organizations, government agencies, as well as to the privacy of consumers.  Tom Kelly was joined in this forum by the Honorable Mike Rogers, former chairman of the House Intelligence Committee.

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The forum specifically addressed concerns surrounding the SolarWinds hack, which was discovered on December 8, 2020, and compromised many United States Treasury, Commerce, and other government offices, as well as numerous corporate enterprises. Rogers and Kelly discussed the level of sophistication and ongoing impact of the SolarWinds hack, including the need to balance homeland cybersecurity and our citizens’ online privacy. The hackers were excellent at identifying privileged access management, where they were able to hack into the highest level of security and carefully monitor traffic of the organization that was actively involved in alerting government agencies of the data breach risks.

“It’s imperative that companies take this event as a major wake-up call and respond by carefully evaluating their security protections in light of the sophistication demonstrated by nation-state perpetrators. Further, while this hack appears initially motivated on cyber intelligence, the downstream effect is very likely to impact consumer digital privacy in a significant manner,” continued Tom Kelly.

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