Dominion Voting Systems uses SolarWinds software, according to a Dominion web page.
SolarWinds does not list Dominion on its partial customer listing but says its products and services are used by more than 300,000 customers around the world, including all five branches of the U.S. military and more than 425 of the U.S. Fortune 500.
The situation with SolarWinds software enabled hackers to gain access to the U.S. Commerce Department and, reportedly, the Treasury Department.
SolarWinds Orion products are currently being exploited by malicious actors, the Department of Homeland Security’s Cybersecurity & Infrastructure Agency (CISA) said. The tactic lets an attacker gain access to network traffic management systems.
The only known mitigation measure currently available is to disconnect affected devices, according to the agency.
SolarWinds recommended customers upgrade their Orion platform to a recent version. If customers aren’t able to upgrade immediately, they were urged to disable internet access for the platform and limit ports and connections to only what is necessary. A patch is expected on Tuesday.
Dominion didn’t respond to a request for comment, including whether it had followed the measures recommended by either CISA or SolarWinds. Dominion also didn’t return a voicemail.
According to FireEye, a cybersecurity firm, the hackers inserted malicious code into legitimate software updates for the SolarWinds Orion software. The code enabled an attacker to gain remote access to the victim’s systems.
The malware was designed in a way to not alert the victim to the intrusion, and attackers went to significant lengths to blend into normal activity.
The breaches date back to the spring, according to the firm, which has been in touch with SolarWinds, the FBI, and other key partners.
The activity is being probed by the FBI, the firm said. The bureau has told The Epoch Times that it doesn’t comment on ongoing investigations.
Dominion has been in the spotlight in recent weeks because of how widespread its systems and machines are in the United States. Witnesses have come forward to say that Dominion products were connected to the internet during the November 3 election, raising concerns about security. Dominion machines were used in Antrim County, Michigan, where officials initially reported Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden winning before saying President Donald Trump actually won after discovering approximately 6,000 votes for Trump had somehow flipped to Biden.
Michigan and Dominion officials have insisted that what happened was due to human error but a forensic audit showed that it was actually a software issue, an attorney pressing a case against the county said last week.
A judge is slated to decide whether to approve an emergency motion seeking permission to make the audit public on Monday morning.
UPDATES
Dominion CEO to Testify in First Post-Election Appearance Before a State Legislature
The CEO of Dominion Voting Systems, a voting machine and software company, will answer questions from legislators in Michigan on Tuesday.
It will be the first time John Poulos has answered questions since the Nov. 3 election, which saw 28 states use Dominion products.
Poulos could face questioning about an audit released Monday that concluded Dominion’s system “is intentionally and purposefully designed with inherent errors to create systemic fraud and influence election results.”
Data firm Allied Security Operations Group examined machines and software in Antrim County this month, saying Dominion products were to blame for the infamous vote flip that occurred in the county.
According to a brief agenda from the Michigan legislature, Poulos will give a presentation during the Senate Oversight Committee hearing at the Capitol Building in Lansing at 1 p.m.
State Sen. Edward McBroom, a Republican, chairs the committee. McBroom and a clerk didn’t respond to requests for more information.
State Rep. Matt Hall, a Republican who chairs the Michigan House Oversight Committee, originally requested Dominion send representatives to answer questions from lawmakers.
When he received no response, he threatened to subpoena Poulos, according to a letter obtained by The Epoch Times.
Poulos then wrote to McBroom, saying a company representative could testify on “the continuing malicious and widespread disinformation campaign” against Dominion.
“I appreciate the opportunity to correct the baseless and defamatory claims being made about our systems. They are harmful not only to Dominion, but also to the countless hardworking election officials across the state, as well all Michigan public officials elected through a fair process,” Poulos said in the letter.
Dominion representatives have been sought for questioning by lawmakers in other battleground states.
The company committed to sending employees to answer questions from legislators in Pennsylvania last month but backed out, citing “threats of litigation.”
Arizona Senate Judiciary Chairman Eddie Farnsworth, a Republican, announced during an election oversight hearing on Monday that he would issue subpoenas requiring Dominion machines in Maricopa County be audited.
“There is evidence of tampering, there is evidence of fraud,” he said.
Hall said in a statement last week that he was aware of reports about software issues causing irregularities to occur.
“Representatives of the people must be able to ask officials at Dominion questions in order to provide clarity and restore faith in our elections process,” he said.
“Dominion has finally agreed to testify publicly next week. It’s about time,” added Michigan House Speaker Lee Chatfield, a Republican. “We need to get to the bottom of these accusations and hear from them.”
UPDATES
"SolarWinds" was investigated for hidden dangers related to national security, Dominion quickly deleted information
Reporter : Xiao Jing / Editor: Mei Lan / https://www.ntdtv.com/gb/2020/12/16/a103011589.html / Direct translation
Image : Netizens discovered that Dominion had deleted the information about "SolarWinds" from its website. (Twitter screenshot)
The Cyber Security and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security issued a rare emergency order on December 14 to allow all federal agencies that use SolarWinds "Orion Network" products to disconnect the power of the product because of malicious foreign cyber hackers are using the "Orion Network" to steal and access data and information.
Later, some netizens discovered that Dominion had deleted the information about the "SolarWinds" from its website to cover up the relationship between the two.
A Twitter netizen, Ron, disclosed that "Dominion deleted the reference materials and links to "Solar Winds" on their website, but we still have archived materials."
According to "Gateway Pundit" reports, from March to May of this year, malware directly entered the system through the official update of "Solar Wind", infecting the central point of the "Orion Network", causing foreign hackers to have full permission. Can enter all systems connected to the Orion network to perform activities, including reading and writing software, adding or deleting programs and data, and monitoring the network. Any computer connected to the infected network can be fully accessed by foreign hackers.
The Dominion voting system, which is the most important for fraud in this year's election, is also a user of Solarwinds' "Orion Network". This also provides a possible entrance for foreign forces to intervene in the US election through the Dominion system.
An IT professional explained that SolarWinds has a script tool that can automate task scheduling and configuration management. If you have 1,000 or more voting machines distributed across the country, you can create scripts and quickly download or upload data from these machines in a few seconds. Solarwinds servers and accounts are granted high-level permissions to perform these tasks. Hackers can take over the company's management server and use it as a "zombie", and arrange attacks on voting machines from various places, making it difficult to track.
He Qinglian, a Chinese travel scholar, commented that if this matter is true, it is big news; and if the US election fraud is not tracked down to the Dominion system and triggers the 2018 presidential decree to interfere in the US election, it will be difficult to judge. She said, "When you get to this level, it's up to you, and one of them will fall to the ground."
Not only that, the products of the Orion Network are also widely used in US official agencies, including the Office of the President, the State Department, the National Security Agency, the Department of Justice, and important US military departments, such as the networks of the five major services and the Pentagon. In addition, the top ten telecommunications companies in the United States, as well as some large companies, universities, five major accounting firms, and even 425 companies in the Fortune Global 500 are all users of the Orion network.
"SolarWinds" is mainly engaged in software development, system and information technology architecture, network management and other businesses. It has sales and product development offices in the United States and many other countries. Its main shareholder is the American "Silver Lake Investment Company", which has also invested hundreds of billions of dollars in mainland China and was once the main supporter of "Ant Financial" from the United States in financing in 2018.
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