Washington, USA – Recent security reports have revealed a wide-scale cyber attack campaign targeting protection and network devices belonging to Fortinet.
The breach led to the leakage of login credentials and the compromise of systems at government institutions and major companies in over 15 countries.
According to data reported by Reuters, citing cybersecurity researchers, the campaign affected nearly 75,000 firewall and VPN devices.
Institutions rely on these systems to secure their networks and enable employees to access systems remotely through virtual private networks.
75,000 Devices Within Attack Scope
Hudson Rock, a company specializing in tracking cybercrime, explained that the affected devices are primarily concentrated in the United States, India, and Taiwan.
The company noted that the attacks have extended to include multiple economic and government sectors in the countries affected by this breach.
The company noted that the attacks have extended to include multiple economic and government sectors in the countries affected by this breach.
This increases the risk of unauthorized access to sensitive information or internal operating systems belonging to the compromised entities.
Fortinet Denies New Vulnerability
For its part, Fortinet confirmed that it is monitoring the campaign, clarifying that the detected activity is not linked to any new security vulnerability in its products.
It stated that the breach relies on exploiting previously leaked login credentials or the use of weak and reused passwords by users.
It added that attackers employed advanced methods, including the reuse of previously leaked credentials, alongside automated password guessing attacks.
Indicators of Criminal Group Involvement
Reports indicated that some of the leaked login data belongs to government entities in a number of countries, including accounts linked to institutions in Puerto Rico.
Cybersecurity researcher Bob Diachenko also revealed the discovery of data linked to the campaign inside an open server on the internet.
Technical analysis showed indicators of the use of tools and scripts written in the Russian language, which may point to a potential link to criminal groups.
Digital security experts believe this campaign highlights the dangers of weak passwords and emphasizes the importance of strengthening multi-factor authentication mechanisms.
