Backdoor keys of businesses stolen by SUNBURST hackers says Nikesh Arora
Since at least March 2020, hackers have broken into the digital operations of businesses, government agencies, universities, hospitals and other entities in the U.S. and elsewhere. The breach, given the name SUNBURST, is one of the largest cyber-attacks, infiltrating 18,000 entities in the U.S., including federal government agencies and most of the FORTUNE 500 companies.
The hack is disguised as legitimate computer services since it infiltrated the Orion Network management software of U.S. based SolarWinds. It can cause wide damage: steal data about COVID-19 vaccines and bank money transfers as well as disable power plants, internet services and government security codes.
“We can say pretty clearly that it was the Russians…” who did it, U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, said yesterday. The security breach “poses a grave risk” to government, infrastructure and private entities in the U.S., according to the U.S. Cyber and Infrastructure Security Agency. The hackers “demonstrated patience, operational security, and complex tradecraft in these intrusions…removing this threat actor from compromised environments will be highly complex and challenging for organizations.”
It was a “dream attack for a cyber hacker,” in which the thieves stole “the back door keys” Nikesh Arora, Chief Executive of Palo Alto Networks, said on CNBC yesterday. The company, which is based in Santa Clara, California, provides digital security services to 77,000 customers in over 150 countries. Using artificial intelligence and machine learning tools, the company’s products protect its clients’ systems across clouds, networks, and mobile devices.
In fiscal year ending in July 2020, Palo Alto Network’s revenues were $3.4 billion, up from $1.4 billion in 2016. In 2020, it had a net loss of $267 million; the net loss in 2016 was $193 million. The company has a market value of $35 billion. Last year, Arora was paid a salary and bonus of $2 million. He owns $75 million of shares, granted as part of his compensation package.
Besides Arora, Indian Americans in senior roles at Palo Alto Networks, include Amit Singh, President, and Asheem Chandna, who is on the board of directors.
Arora, 52, joined the company as CEO and chairman in 2018. Earlier, he was the chief operating officer of the SoftBank Group, the Tokyo-based global conglomerate. Softbank, which has a market value of $149 billion, is run by its founder Masayoshi Son.
While at Softbank, an anonymous investor group asked the company to investigate Arora over his qualifications, compensation and potential conflicts of interest, since he was also an adviser to a private equity firm. After an investigation, Softbank’s board cleared Arora of any wrongdoing.
Arora spent ten years at Google, including as chief business officer, president of global sales operations and president of Europe, the Middle East and Africa. Prior to Google, he was the chief marketing officer for the T-Mobile International Division of Deutsche Telekom. He was chief executive officer and founder of T-Motion PLC, which merged with T-Mobile in 2002.
He serves on the board of Compagnie Financière Richemont S.A., a public Switzerland-based luxury goods holding company. Arora, whose father was an Indian Air Force officer, earned an MBA from Northeastern University, Boston, an M.S. in finance from Boston College and a B. Tech. in electrical engineering from Banaras Hindu University.
Operations managed by Amit Singh, president of Palo Alto Networks, include sales, support, consulting and partnerships. Earlier he was at Google, including founding and building its cloud business, helping companies move to cloud-based services like Gmail and Google Docs. He also led business and operations for Google's Virtual Reality efforts. Prior to Google, Amit spent 20 years at Oracle in various product, engineering, sales and strategy roles.
Last year, Singh’s salary and bonus at Palo Alto Networks totaled $1.5 million. He also owns shares in the company worth $13 million. Singh, 54, earned an M.S. in industrial and management engineering at the Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, New York, and a bachelor's in electrical engineering from the Delhi College of Engineering.
Besides serving on the board of Palo Alto Networks, Asheem Chandna has been an investor and director in over twenty companies. Last year, at Palo Alto, he earned $296,000 in stock awards for being a member of the board. He owns $40 million of the company’s shares.
Chandna, 56, is a partner at Greylock Partners. Founded in 1965, the venture capital firm reportedly manages $3.2 billion in assets. Greylock was an early investor in Facebook, Airbnb, LinkedIn and other major companies. During his seventeen years at Greylock, none of his investments have lost money, Chandna told Forbes.
Chandna joined Greylock in 2003 from Check Point Software, where he was vice president of business development and product management. During his six plus years tenure, Check Point grew from $10 million to over $500 million in annual revenues. Prior to Check Point, he was vice president of marketing with CoroNet Systems (acquired by Compuware), where he helped create a product for network monitoring. Previously, Chandna held marketing and product line positions with SynOptics/Bay Networks and AT&T Bell Laboratories.
He is a mentor at Stanford University's StartX student accelerator. He earned B.S. and M.S. degrees in Electrical and Computer Engineering from Case Western Reserve University, Cleveland. Born and raised in India, from 1970 to 1980 he attended the Cathedral and John Connon High School in Mumbai.
Discussing how business ventures can operate successfully during the current pandemic, Chandna writes that never has “the importance of focus been more evident than when Covid-19 effectively eliminated so many distractions.” At Greylock, Chandna seeks potential venture investment opportunities in companies like Palo Alto Networks that provide original solutions to business problems.
Speaking of the recent Russian hack, Palo Alto CEO Arora told CNBC, that businesses and other entities have to investigate and secure their digital operations and “…have to be prepared for this if it happens again. I don’t think it’s the last (hack) we’re going to see.”
