ALEXANDRIA, Va.—Conexxus, in conjunction with the law firm Han Santos, has created a synopsis and frequently asked questions guide to address the serious security attack involving the SolarWinds Orion/IAM® platform (Orion®) and why the convenience and fuel industry should take notice.

An estimated 18,000 organizations fell victims to the attack spanning the private and public sectors, including government, consulting, technology, telecommunications and oil and gas companies in North America, Asia, Europe and the Middle East. Remediation for this security cyberattack is likely to take years.

SolarWinds provides IT infrastructure management tools to hundreds of thousands of customers. first reported by cyber firm FireEye in December 2020, the cyberattack involved malware inserted within SolarWinds Orion/IAM® platform software. The malware gives an attacker potential access to compromise the server on which the Orion products run, infecting networks.

Not only is this attack extraordinary in its scope, it is devastating in its impact, Conexxus said. The attackers were able to gain covert access for approximately nine months without detection. It will be even longer before security experts are able to determine the extent of the information that has been compromised. So, while the attack may have been stopped, the damage could continue for the foreseeable future. While most press has focused on the national security implications of this attack, the impact of this falls equally hard on the business community.

Download the quick reference guide to learn more about the SolarWinds cyberattack and how to protect your networks. For more information on data security and standards, visit Conexxus.org.