SaaS Analytic and Security Firm Sumo Logic Defends Against AWS Breach

Cloud-native and analytic solutions provider Sumo Logic has announced a cybersecurity incident stemming from a compromised AWS account. Sumo’s clients come from various industries, including airlines and video game franchises. On November 7th, they posted a breach notice to their website; they stopped the attack before the data could be unencrypted.

How Did the Attack Occur? 

Sumo Logic’s breach occurred via one of their Amazon Web Service (AWS) accounts. In the past, the compromised account had a stable password; the assailants used that credential to reach Sumo’s accounts. The notice provided on Sumo Logic’s website describes nothing else about how the unauthorized party made the attack possible; this may be for various reasons. If the bad actors stole the AMS password in a phishing plot or discovered as a system misconfiguration, human error may have encouraged the breach. Alternatively, if the breach came as a system vulnerability from AWS, far more organizations may have information at risk. 

What Information Was Viewed or Stolen? 

As of this writing, no consumer or employee data has gone public resulting from this breach. Sumo’s immediate response time and policy continuity plans have seemingly protected it from the dangerous attack. Their notice states that upon learning of the threat, they instantly locked down the website and began an intensive investigation. Sumo updated every credential they had access to change as part of their response. They also improved their monitoring abilities to mitigate potential future attacks. Their immediate response plan may be why this AWS credential breach may not impact consumers. 

How Did Sumo Logic Admit to the Breach? 

Sumo Logic announced the breach by posting the notice to their website on or around November 7th. From that same notice, the attack occurred around November 3rd, with Sumo taking instant action. Sumo is conducting internal reviews to parse possible victims, but the breach was presumably unsuccessful. Once the review concludes, if there are impacted parties, Sumo Logic will promptly send consumer notifications. However, at this time, there are no known data exposures. 

What Will Become of the Old Information? 

Although the breach was unsuccessful, Sumo Logic has deployed cybersecurity measures that will continue protecting its consumers. Presumably, whatever information the assailant may have seen or accessed has been changed. Additionally, Sumo has likely installed more verification checkpoints within their systems—more lockable gateways and better security control. 

What Should Parties Do in the Aftermath of the Breach? 

There are, so far, no records of victims from this breach, thanks to Sumo Logic’s security measures. Even so, no one should ignore the event; by taking preventative steps, Sumo Logic protected themselves and, more importantly, their clients. Individuals and organizations should consider learning from Sumo’s choices. 

In cybersecurity, data breaches are not a matter of “if,” but “when.” Small businesses are an enormous target for hackers; Verizon’s 2023 Data Breach Investigation Report suggests 61% of small businesses had cyberattacks in 2021. As cybersecurity incidents become more commonplace, individuals and organizations must protect themselves from potential threats.