This ‘hack scale’ will help you understand the SolarWinds cyberattacks

Q&A with Rep. Suzan DelBene on tech | Valve’s top Steam games of 2020 ADVERTISEMENT [GeekWire]( SPONSOR MESSAGE: Become a GeekWire member: [Support independent journalism and join today!]( TODAY'S TOP STORIES How hacked is “hacked”? Some hacking is catastrophic, but some is survivable. This reality has played out in the different reports coming out about “SolarWinds hacks” involving Microsoft, the U.S. Treasury Department, and others. Some organizations are severely affected while others less so. But these crucial differences are lost when we say they’ve all been “hacked.” To understand the nuances in the SolarWinds cases better, contributing writer Christopher Budd came up with a scale to easily and succinctly analyze the relative comparative severity of the situation. [Check it out here](. Amazon holiday sales: The Seattle tech giant touted a “record-breaking holiday season” as more shoppers bought goods online this year amid the pandemic. Amazon is expected to post its first $100 billion-plus quarter when it reports fourth quarter sales early next year. [Read more](. DelBene Q&A: We spoke with Rep. Suzan DelBene (D-WA) about a bevy of tech issues, including the incoming Biden administration and getting broadband access to rural communities. DelBene brought 12 years of leadership experience at Microsoft with her to Congress when she was first elected in 2012. During her time in office, she’s pursued a tech policy agenda, introducing bills that would establish data privacy regulations and extend law enforcement warrant standards to emails. [Read the conversation](. Top video games of 2020: Bellevue, Wash.-based gaming giant Valve Software the top 100 best-performing games of the year]( on its Steam digital storefront. Many of the top sellers weren’t actually new releases. The latest list shows that making money in game publishing today is about keeping an audience for as long as possible. Merging farming and tech skills: Patrick Smith and Dan Maycock have tapped into their Washington state farming backgrounds to launch Loftus Labs, a data analytics consulting company with an agriculture focus. The startup will bring digital know-how to farmers in every aspect of the business, including yield forecasts, monitoring crop health, tracking irrigation and pesticide use, and managing supply chains and labor costs. [Read more.]( Top stories of 2020: In case you missed it, [on a new episode of the GeekWire Podcast]( we recapped the most-read stories on GeekWire and offered our own perspectives on the trends and issues that mattered most. Thanks for reading, and see our latest headlines below. — GeekWire managing editor Taylor Soper, taylor@geekwire.com, and Geek Life reporter Kurt Schlosser, kurt@geekwire.com. SPONSOR MESSAGE [Figuring out 2021 Employee Benefits? Get a Quote from ALLtech]( Available exclusively through the [GeekWire Membership Program]( [ALLtech]( helps even the smallest startups offer health insurance plans and other benefits that rival larger companies. With exclusive pricing from preferred carriers like [Regence]( and [Delta Dental]( ALLtech provides the most competitive, cost-effective plans available, tailored specifically for small technology businesses. [Learn more today!]( LATEST HEADLINES [Q&A: Rep. DelBene on data privacy, rural broadband and the Biden administration’s tech agenda]( [Amazon sold billions of products during holiday period; third-party sales up 50% globally]( [How hacked is hacked? Here’s a ‘hack scale’ to better understand the SolarWinds cyberattacks]( [What Valve’s top Steam titles of 2020 say about the state of video games]( [Data experts tap their farming backgrounds to lead new Washington state agriculture tech startup]( SPONSORED: GEEK HOME OF THE DAY [PNW Wonderland Views in Bellevue]( [Week in Review: Most popular stories on GeekWire for the week of Dec. 20, 2020]( GEEKWORK: TODAY'S TECH JOBS - [Level: Senior Software Engineer (Full Stack)]( - [Temporal Technologies: Sr. Developer Advocate]( - [GeekWire: GeekWire Technology and Business Reporter]( - [Bean Box, Inc.: Principal Software Engineer]( - [INRIX: Chief Product Officer]( - [Flyhomes: Senior Front End Engineer]( - [Temporal Technologies: Sr. Solutions Architect]( - [INRIX: GM, Automotive Sales]( - [GeekWire: Project and Membership Manager]( - [INRIX: Senior Front-End UI Developer]( [FIND MORE JOBS ON GEEKWORK]( [HIRING? BUY A FEATURED LISTING TO APPEAR HERE]( [About GeekWire]( [Contact Us]( [Advertise]( Copyright © 2020 GeekWire LLC, All rights reserved. You are receiving this email because you opted to receive emails from GeekWire LLC.  Our mailing address is: GeekWire LLC 123 NW 36th St, Suite 203 Seattle, WA 98107  [change email frequency or address]( | [unsubscribe](