The SolarWinds attack in 2020 was a humiliating all-out assault on U.S. government cybersecurity, and it’s likely that one key reason it’s not more famous is that we still know very little about what the hackers achieved. But we now have a few more crumbs to work with, because new revelations from Bloomberg have revealed that the hackers were in Treasury Department email accounts, essentially doing whatever they wanted.
Bloomberg’s reporting comes from a Freedom of Information Act lawsuit, which resulted in the release of a redacted investigation report from the Treasury’s inspector general.
To refresh your memory, SolarWinds is a Texas-based information management company that is both a little-known part of the software supply chain, but it’s also ubiquitous and essential. In early 2020 SolarWinds was targeted by an elite, possibly Russia-affiliated entity, and infiltrated through a combination of social engineering and hacking—essentially turning a key piece of its software called Orion Platform into a malware dispenser, spreading its spying tools all over systems belonging to SolarWinds’ clients. That client list included sensitive organizations at the very highest levels like the White House and the NSA, exposing the hackers to communications networks that process classified information.
The key piece of shocking information reported shortly after the hack was discovered was the duration of the exposure: about nine months—most of 2020. We now know a little bit about four of those nine months.
Bloomberg says the infiltration of the Treasury Department’s SolarWinds account occurred on July 6, 2020 when the highest level administrator account for Treasury’s SolarWinds software was compromised. The hackers apparently used that account to change an application hilariously called Secure Mail, which in turn “potentially allowed access to all e-mail addresses ending in ‘treasury.gov’,” per the inspector general’s report.
The infiltration of the treasury email system apparently lasted until October 12, 2020, when Treasury—apparently accidentally—ended the hackers’ party with some kind of system change. The user of the compromised admin account claims in the report not to know which specific emails were targeted, or whether or not anything was actually stolen.
#SolarWinds #Hack #Humiliating #Government #ThoughtHacking,Russia,SOLARWINDS">The SolarWinds Hack Was More Humiliating for the Government Than We Thought
The SolarWinds attack in 2020 was a humiliating all-out assault on U.S. government cybersecurity, and it’s likely that one key reason it’s not more famous is that we still know very little about what the hackers achieved. But we now have a few more crumbs to work with, because new revelations from Bloomberg have revealed that the hackers were in Treasury Department email accounts, essentially doing whatever they wanted.
Bloomberg’s reporting comes from a Freedom of Information Act lawsuit, which resulted in the release of a redacted investigation report from the Treasury’s inspector general.
To refresh your memory, SolarWinds is a Texas-based information management company that is both a little-known part of the software supply chain, but it’s also ubiquitous and essential. In early 2020 SolarWinds was targeted by an elite, possibly Russia-affiliated entity, and infiltrated through a combination of social engineering and hacking—essentially turning a key piece of its software called Orion Platform into a malware dispenser, spreading its spying tools all over systems belonging to SolarWinds’ clients. That client list included sensitive organizations at the very highest levels like the White House and the NSA, exposing the hackers to communications networks that process classified information.
The key piece of shocking information reported shortly after the hack was discovered was the duration of the exposure: about nine months—most of 2020. We now know a little bit about four of those nine months.
Bloomberg says the infiltration of the Treasury Department’s SolarWinds account occurred on July 6, 2020 when the highest level administrator account for Treasury’s SolarWinds software was compromised. The hackers apparently used that account to change an application hilariously called Secure Mail, which in turn “potentially allowed access to all e-mail addresses ending in ‘treasury.gov’,” per the inspector general’s report.
The infiltration of the treasury email system apparently lasted until October 12, 2020, when Treasury—apparently accidentally—ended the hackers’ party with some kind of system change. The user of the compromised admin account claims in the report not to know which specific emails were targeted, or whether or not anything was actually stolen.
#SolarWinds #Hack #Humiliating #Government #ThoughtHacking,Russia,SOLARWINDS
The SolarWinds attack in 2020 was a humiliating all-out assault on U.S. government cybersecurity, and it’s likely that one key reason it’s not more famous is that we still know very little about what the hackers achieved. But we now have a few more crumbs to work with, because new revelations from Bloomberg have revealed that the hackers were in Treasury Department email accounts, essentially doing whatever they wanted.
Bloomberg’s reporting comes from a Freedom of Information Act lawsuit, which resulted in the release of a redacted investigation report from the Treasury’s inspector general.
To refresh your memory, SolarWinds is a Texas-based information management company that is both a little-known part of the software supply chain, but it’s also ubiquitous and essential. In early 2020 SolarWinds was targeted by an elite, possibly Russia-affiliated entity, and infiltrated through a combination of social engineering and hacking—essentially turning a key piece of its software called Orion Platform into a malware dispenser, spreading its spying tools all over systems belonging to SolarWinds’ clients. That client list included sensitive organizations at the very highest levels like the White House and the NSA, exposing the hackers to communications networks that process classified information.
The key piece of shocking information reported shortly after the hack was discovered was the duration of the exposure: about nine months—most of 2020. We now know a little bit about four of those nine months.
Bloomberg says the infiltration of the Treasury Department’s SolarWinds account occurred on July 6, 2020 when the highest level administrator account for Treasury’s SolarWinds software was compromised. The hackers apparently used that account to change an application hilariously called Secure Mail, which in turn “potentially allowed access to all e-mail addresses ending in ‘treasury.gov’,” per the inspector general’s report.
The infiltration of the treasury email system apparently lasted until October 12, 2020, when Treasury—apparently accidentally—ended the hackers’ party with some kind of system change. The user of the compromised admin account claims in the report not to know which specific emails were targeted, or whether or not anything was actually stolen.
The SolarWinds attack in 2020 was a humiliating all-out assault on U.S. government cybersecurity, and it’s likely that one key reason it’s not more famous is that we still know very little about what the hackers achieved. But we now have a few more crumbs to work with, because new revelations from Bloomberg have revealed that the hackers were in Treasury Department email accounts, essentially doing whatever they wanted.
Bloomberg’s reporting comes from a Freedom of Information Act lawsuit, which resulted in the release of a redacted investigation report from the Treasury’s inspector general.
To refresh your memory, SolarWinds is a Texas-based information management company that is both a little-known part of the software supply chain, but it’s also ubiquitous and essential. In early 2020 SolarWinds was targeted by an elite, possibly Russia-affiliated entity, and infiltrated through a combination of social engineering and hacking—essentially turning a key piece of its software called Orion Platform into a malware dispenser, spreading its spying tools all over systems belonging to SolarWinds’ clients. That client list included sensitive organizations at the very highest levels like the White House and the NSA, exposing the hackers to communications networks that process classified information.
The key piece of shocking information reported shortly after the hack was discovered was the duration of the exposure: about nine months—most of 2020. We now know a little bit about four of those nine months.
Bloomberg says the infiltration of the Treasury Department’s SolarWinds account occurred on July 6, 2020 when the highest level administrator account for Treasury’s SolarWinds software was compromised. The hackers apparently used that account to change an application hilariously called Secure Mail, which in turn “potentially allowed access to all e-mail addresses ending in ‘treasury.gov’,” per the inspector general’s report.
The infiltration of the treasury email system apparently lasted until October 12, 2020, when Treasury—apparently accidentally—ended the hackers’ party with some kind of system change. The user of the compromised admin account claims in the report not to know which specific emails were targeted, or whether or not anything was actually stolen.
The SolarWinds attack in 2020 was a humiliating all-out assault on U.S. government cybersecurity, and…
-Reviewer-Photo-SOURCE-Brenda-Stolyar.jpg)
![Meta’s Latest App Looks Like Reddit
Meta has a new app on the App Store, and it looks an awful lot like Reddit. The app, called Forum, is “a dedicated space built for deeper discussions, real answers and communities you care about,” according to its App Store page. In practice, it is just a standalone app version of Facebook’s existing Groups feature, in which Facebook users can join groups and participate in discussions. In the new standalone app, the feed is entirely focused on the conversations taking place in the groups you are already a part of on your existing Facebook account. Forum and Facebook are still linked, meaning that you can enter Forum with your Facebook login, and whatever you post on there will be visible in your groups on the Facebook app as well. Some readers might be getting deja vu, and rightfully so, because this is Meta’s second attempt at launching a stand-alone Facebook Groups app. Then known as Facebook, the company launched a similar, dedicated app back in 2014 that was ultimately discontinued in 2017.
Perhaps to spice things up a bit, this time around, Meta is also including a dedicated AI assistant in the app. The “Ask” feature on the app will rely on the information posted on the group pages to respond to users looking for “opinions, advice or recommendations,” Meta said. There is also an additional AI assistant for group admins, which will supposedly assist them with tasks like content moderation.
Some financial analysts considered the app a direct threat to Reddit, causing the company’s stock to end the day down more than 5%, but the apps have vastly different existing user bases. Either way, it’s too soon to tell whether there will eventually be significant user migration from Reddit to Forum. This isn’t Meta’s first attempt at making its own version of an already successful app or feature. The company released its Twitter competitor app Threads in 2023, and most recently, it debuted Instants, an Instagram app that aims to replicate the successes of Snapchat and BeReal with instant, disappearing photos.
Interestingly, this time around, Meta released this app with little fanfare. There was no major announcement or press release that we could find. The app just appeared on the App Store, and some eagle-eyed users noticed it. Which raises the question, could this be the start of an AI-enabled flood of new apps that Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg reportedly promised employees? Late last month, the Wall Street Journal published a piece detailing a companywide meeting in which Zuckerberg talked about Meta’s AI overhaul that has been used to justify a brutal round of layoffs. According to the report, Zuckerberg touted the efficiency gains from infusing AI into workflows and how the company will “be able to spin up more new projects” now because of this. Those new projects, according to the report, include creating more apps. “So like Chris [Cox, Meta’s chief product officer] and I have been talking about, ‘all right, well, can we build 50 new apps? Like, yeah, probably,” Zuckerberg is quoted to have said in the article. “But we probably should start by doing a few before we just, like, ramp up trying to do 50 all at once.” #Metas #Latest #App #RedditForum,Meta,Reddit](https://i0.wp.com/gizmodo.com/app/uploads/2026/05/GettyImages-2243527585-e1779485911551-1280x853.jpg?ssl=1 "Meta’s Latest App Looks Like Reddit
Meta has a new app on the App Store, and it looks an awful lot like Reddit. The app, called Forum, is “a dedicated space built for deeper discussions, real answers and communities you care about,” according to its App Store page. In practice, it is just a standalone app version of Facebook’s existing Groups feature, in which Facebook users can join groups and participate in discussions. In the new standalone app, the feed is entirely focused on the conversations taking place in the groups you are already a part of on your existing Facebook account. Forum and Facebook are still linked, meaning that you can enter Forum with your Facebook login, and whatever you post on there will be visible in your groups on the Facebook app as well. Some readers might be getting deja vu, and rightfully so, because this is Meta’s second attempt at launching a stand-alone Facebook Groups app. Then known as Facebook, the company launched a similar, dedicated app back in 2014 that was ultimately discontinued in 2017.
Perhaps to spice things up a bit, this time around, Meta is also including a dedicated AI assistant in the app. The “Ask” feature on the app will rely on the information posted on the group pages to respond to users looking for “opinions, advice or recommendations,” Meta said. There is also an additional AI assistant for group admins, which will supposedly assist them with tasks like content moderation.
Some financial analysts considered the app a direct threat to Reddit, causing the company’s stock to end the day down more than 5%, but the apps have vastly different existing user bases. Either way, it’s too soon to tell whether there will eventually be significant user migration from Reddit to Forum. This isn’t Meta’s first attempt at making its own version of an already successful app or feature. The company released its Twitter competitor app Threads in 2023, and most recently, it debuted Instants, an Instagram app that aims to replicate the successes of Snapchat and BeReal with instant, disappearing photos.
Interestingly, this time around, Meta released this app with little fanfare. There was no major announcement or press release that we could find. The app just appeared on the App Store, and some eagle-eyed users noticed it. Which raises the question, could this be the start of an AI-enabled flood of new apps that Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg reportedly promised employees? Late last month, the Wall Street Journal published a piece detailing a companywide meeting in which Zuckerberg talked about Meta’s AI overhaul that has been used to justify a brutal round of layoffs. According to the report, Zuckerberg touted the efficiency gains from infusing AI into workflows and how the company will “be able to spin up more new projects” now because of this. Those new projects, according to the report, include creating more apps. “So like Chris [Cox, Meta’s chief product officer] and I have been talking about, ‘all right, well, can we build 50 new apps? Like, yeah, probably,” Zuckerberg is quoted to have said in the article. “But we probably should start by doing a few before we just, like, ramp up trying to do 50 all at once.” #Metas #Latest #App #RedditForum,Meta,Reddit")
![Meta’s Latest App Looks Like Reddit
Meta has a new app on the App Store, and it looks an awful lot like Reddit. The app, called Forum, is “a dedicated space built for deeper discussions, real answers and communities you care about,” according to its App Store page. In practice, it is just a standalone app version of Facebook’s existing Groups feature, in which Facebook users can join groups and participate in discussions. In the new standalone app, the feed is entirely focused on the conversations taking place in the groups you are already a part of on your existing Facebook account. Forum and Facebook are still linked, meaning that you can enter Forum with your Facebook login, and whatever you post on there will be visible in your groups on the Facebook app as well. Some readers might be getting deja vu, and rightfully so, because this is Meta’s second attempt at launching a stand-alone Facebook Groups app. Then known as Facebook, the company launched a similar, dedicated app back in 2014 that was ultimately discontinued in 2017.
Perhaps to spice things up a bit, this time around, Meta is also including a dedicated AI assistant in the app. The “Ask” feature on the app will rely on the information posted on the group pages to respond to users looking for “opinions, advice or recommendations,” Meta said. There is also an additional AI assistant for group admins, which will supposedly assist them with tasks like content moderation.
Some financial analysts considered the app a direct threat to Reddit, causing the company’s stock to end the day down more than 5%, but the apps have vastly different existing user bases. Either way, it’s too soon to tell whether there will eventually be significant user migration from Reddit to Forum. This isn’t Meta’s first attempt at making its own version of an already successful app or feature. The company released its Twitter competitor app Threads in 2023, and most recently, it debuted Instants, an Instagram app that aims to replicate the successes of Snapchat and BeReal with instant, disappearing photos.
Interestingly, this time around, Meta released this app with little fanfare. There was no major announcement or press release that we could find. The app just appeared on the App Store, and some eagle-eyed users noticed it. Which raises the question, could this be the start of an AI-enabled flood of new apps that Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg reportedly promised employees? Late last month, the Wall Street Journal published a piece detailing a companywide meeting in which Zuckerberg talked about Meta’s AI overhaul that has been used to justify a brutal round of layoffs. According to the report, Zuckerberg touted the efficiency gains from infusing AI into workflows and how the company will “be able to spin up more new projects” now because of this. Those new projects, according to the report, include creating more apps. “So like Chris [Cox, Meta’s chief product officer] and I have been talking about, ‘all right, well, can we build 50 new apps? Like, yeah, probably,” Zuckerberg is quoted to have said in the article. “But we probably should start by doing a few before we just, like, ramp up trying to do 50 all at once.” #Metas #Latest #App #RedditForum,Meta,Reddit](https://gizmodo.com/app/uploads/2026/05/GettyImages-2243527585-e1779485911551-1280x853.jpg "Meta’s Latest App Looks Like Reddit
Meta has a new app on the App Store, and it looks an awful lot like Reddit. The app, called Forum, is “a dedicated space built for deeper discussions, real answers and communities you care about,” according to its App Store page. In practice, it is just a standalone app version of Facebook’s existing Groups feature, in which Facebook users can join groups and participate in discussions. In the new standalone app, the feed is entirely focused on the conversations taking place in the groups you are already a part of on your existing Facebook account. Forum and Facebook are still linked, meaning that you can enter Forum with your Facebook login, and whatever you post on there will be visible in your groups on the Facebook app as well. Some readers might be getting deja vu, and rightfully so, because this is Meta’s second attempt at launching a stand-alone Facebook Groups app. Then known as Facebook, the company launched a similar, dedicated app back in 2014 that was ultimately discontinued in 2017.
Perhaps to spice things up a bit, this time around, Meta is also including a dedicated AI assistant in the app. The “Ask” feature on the app will rely on the information posted on the group pages to respond to users looking for “opinions, advice or recommendations,” Meta said. There is also an additional AI assistant for group admins, which will supposedly assist them with tasks like content moderation.
Some financial analysts considered the app a direct threat to Reddit, causing the company’s stock to end the day down more than 5%, but the apps have vastly different existing user bases. Either way, it’s too soon to tell whether there will eventually be significant user migration from Reddit to Forum. This isn’t Meta’s first attempt at making its own version of an already successful app or feature. The company released its Twitter competitor app Threads in 2023, and most recently, it debuted Instants, an Instagram app that aims to replicate the successes of Snapchat and BeReal with instant, disappearing photos.
Interestingly, this time around, Meta released this app with little fanfare. There was no major announcement or press release that we could find. The app just appeared on the App Store, and some eagle-eyed users noticed it. Which raises the question, could this be the start of an AI-enabled flood of new apps that Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg reportedly promised employees? Late last month, the Wall Street Journal published a piece detailing a companywide meeting in which Zuckerberg talked about Meta’s AI overhaul that has been used to justify a brutal round of layoffs. According to the report, Zuckerberg touted the efficiency gains from infusing AI into workflows and how the company will “be able to spin up more new projects” now because of this. Those new projects, according to the report, include creating more apps. “So like Chris [Cox, Meta’s chief product officer] and I have been talking about, ‘all right, well, can we build 50 new apps? Like, yeah, probably,” Zuckerberg is quoted to have said in the article. “But we probably should start by doing a few before we just, like, ramp up trying to do 50 all at once.” #Metas #Latest #App #RedditForum,Meta,Reddit")
