IDX CEO Tom Kelly on the Recent FireEye Hack

As featured on the Price of Business Show

On December 8, 2020, FireEye disclosed that hackers broke into FireEye’s network and stole the company’s Red Team penetration testing tools in an SEC filing. Since then, the security industry is reverberating with news of the FireEye breach that led to a snowball effect. The list of known victims now includes US departments of Commerce, Defense, Energy, Homeland Security, State, the Treasury, and Health, the extent of exposed data is currently unknown. Tom Kelly, president and CEO of IDX, joined Kevin Price in a recent episode of Price of Business, to discuss his take on this emerging situation.

Kelly explained that FireEye, a leading cybersecurity company and the government’s first line of defense against data breaches, was compromised by this foreign attack, and the group behind it is believed to have used FireEye’s own product tools against them. This is a big wake-up call for corporations and consumers everywhere. It’s a serious reminder of the continued threats posed by nation-state actors and the kinds of measures they’re taking to infiltrate government offices, systems and more. Kelly also shared that government intervention and public-private partnerships are currently on the rise in the cybersecurity space and addresses the measures that can be taken to avoid a breach like this in the future.

As details continue to be revealed, Kelly urges consumers to increase the security of their passwords, utilize two-factor authentication, continue to update software as updates come available, and invest in solutions that monitor vulnerable areas of their digital lives. Learn about how you can take back control of your privacy and the suite of IDX products at: www.idx.us.