News Direct's video: How spies hacked US secrets via Solarwinds Orion software

For story suggestions or custom animation requests, contact tips@nextanimation.com.tw. Visit http://archive.nextanimationstudio.com to view News Direct's complete archive of 3D news animations. RESTRICTIONS: Broadcast: NO USE JAPAN, NO USE TAIWAN Digital: NO USE JAPAN, NO USE TAIWAN The highly sophisticated hack was first discovered by a cyber security firm called FireEye. The company found that it had itself been hacked, meaning that the hackers probably hacked the powerful tools FireEye used to access top-secret systems. RUNDOWN SHOWS: 1. We see team of hackers discussing plans, working on code 2. See office worker send software update folder 3. Software update folder gets intercepted by hacker team 4. Hacker team insert malicious code into software update folder, then forward it 5. US military personnel receive software update, download it, virus infection starts, spreads 6. Malware sends data to hackers, who open data folder to find top secret files VOICEOVER (in English): The US is currently fighting a massive hack that came to light on December 13, when Reuters reported that hackers had gained access to US Treasury and Commerce Department emails. Since then, officials say at least six government agencies were infiltrated and thousands of companies were infected with malware. The highly sophisticated hack was first discovered by a cyber security firm called FireEye. The company found that it had itself been hacked, meaning that the hackers could have hacked the powerful tools FireEye used to access top-secret systems. Researchers later found that SolarWinds software was at the core of the hack. They believe a SolarWinds product called Orion spread the malware via its own software updates. Once downloaded, the malware signaled back to its operators where it had landed. In cases where access was especially valuable, the hackers then used it to deploy more active malicious software to spread across its host. Part of the problem is that most people don't even know they have parts of SolarWinds software running on their systems, or on systems they use every day. SOURCES: BBC, NBC News, CNN, The Verge https://www.bbc.com/news/technology-55321643 https://www.nbcnews.com/tech/security/why-russian-hack-so-significant-why-it-s-close-worst-n1252131 https://edition.cnn.com/2020/12/16/tech/solarwinds-orion-hack-explained/index.html https://www.theverge.com/2020/12/21/22194183/intel-nvidia-cisco-government-infected-solarwinds-hack *** ----------------------------------------­­---------------------------------------­-­---------------- Next Animation Studio’s News Direct service provides daily, high-quality, informative 3D news animations that fill in for missing footage and help viewers understand breaking news stories or in-depth features on science, technology, and health. Sign up for a free trial of News Direct's news animations at http://newsdirect.nextanimationstudio.com/trial/ To subscribe to News Direct or for more info, please visit: http://newsdirect.nextanimationstudio.com