U.S. District Judge Paul Engelmayer has dismissed most of the charges made by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) against software company and 2020 cyberattack victim SolarWinds and its chief information security officer (CISO), Tim Brown. In its original lawsuit, filed in October 2023, the SEC alleged that SolarWinds had defrauded investors by concealing security weaknesses in its public filings in IPO registration documents and 8-K filings about its internal cybersecurity practices. 

In this Flash Report, we analyze the ruling and discuss why companies should take note of this decision and its broader implications.