\nIn a stunning reversal, the bear market of 2020 ended on August 18 when the S&P 500 exceeded previous February highs. As trillions of dollars in stimulus response got injected into global economies, markets recovered in record time.<\/p>\n
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They have many fascinating charts of the year in 2020. Here’s another one I liked:<\/p>\n
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You can access all their wonderful charts here.<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n Solar Winds and the Feds gets hacked<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n This is the headline in the Washington Post:<\/p>\n Top investors in SolarWinds, the Texas-based company whose software was breached in a major Russian cyberattack, sold millions of dollars in stock in the days before the intrusion was revealed.<\/p>\n The timing of the trades raises questions about whether the investors used inside information to avoid major losses related to the attack. SolarWinds’s share price has plunged roughly 22 percent since the company disclosed its role in the breach Sunday night.<\/p>\n On Dec. 8, the cybersecurity firm FireEye announced that hackers had broken into its servers and stolen sensitive security-testing tools as part of a breach they’d discovered in recent weeks. FireEye determined by Friday that SolarWinds’ updates had been corrupted and contacted the company shortly after, according to people familiar with the matter.<\/p>\n Here’s Solar Winds year to date:<\/p>\n I am not an expert in cyber security. But 50 years in technology taught me:<\/p>\n + Don’t rely on one company, like Solar Winds — especially a tiny, barely-profitable company like Solar Winds.<\/p>\n + Most hacking comes through email attachments. But this one came through a faulty software upgrade. A good rule is Don’t upgrade immediately.<\/strong> Wait. Our government didn’t wait. I remember when we used to delay installing Windows “upgrades.” Many were faulty. ONly to be replaced a week later with one that worked.<\/p>\n + Make sure you have backups. Extra computers, servers, flash drives is cheap compared to what ransomware could cost you.<\/p>\n + Federal Government agencies are a disgrace. Congress or the Administration should form an oversight agency, like the National Transportation Safety Board, which\u00a0investigates every civil aviation accident in the U.S. and significant accidents in other modes of\u00a0transportation<\/em>. Based on their investigative findings and special studies, the\u00a0board<\/em>\u00a0makes recommendations aimed at preventing future accidents. We don’t have one for cyber security. We desperately need one. Tell your people in Washington.<\/p>\n Love these<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n + Trump declined to appear at his own Christmas Party, held one floor below his residence in the White House.<\/p>\n + White House aides say it is unlikely he will attend Biden’s inauguration on January 20, 2021.<\/p>\n + Ten of thousands of requests for presidential pardons have been submitted (via email, phone, FedEx, mail, etc.)\u00a0 to the White House and the Justice Department. If you’re asking for a pardon, you must be guilty of something.<\/p>\n + Six weeks after Election Day, Trump has spent more than half of his days with no public appearances. but nine days on the golf course — at taxpayer expense.<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.technologyinvestor.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/12\/SolarWinds-800x291.jpg\")
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