IMO the article overstates the danger of cubesats. If deployed to a low orbit (~ISS height) they deorbit in months due to atmospheric drag. You don't really run into the problems described in the WaPo article until you start putting them into higher orbits where they will last longer.

Here is a more detailed article describing the cubesat problem and potential mitigations.

https://spaceflightnow.com/2015/07/30/nasa-tracking-cubesats...