Fortinet Firewall Breach Affects Over 15 Governments and Fortune 500 Companies

(CNA, Washington, 17th - International News Report) Cybersecurity researchers have revealed a large-scale hacking campaign targeting Fortinet firewall devices, infiltrating globally recognized institutions. Evidence indicates that login credentials from Fortune 500 companies and government agencies across more than 15 countries have been stolen.

Hudson Rock, a firm tracking cyber threats, stated that most affected devices are located in the United States, India, and Taiwan, describing the espionage operation as 'shocking' in scale.

Hudson Rock reported that approximately 75,000 Fortinet firewalls and VPNs have been compromised, with hackers likely gaining deeper access to these systems to steal sensitive data. VPNs are tools used by enterprises to secure networks and enable remote employee access.

Fortinet acknowledged that hackers have targeted its firewall and VPN devices to steal account credentials. The attackers are using data obtained from 'past incidents' to repeatedly attempt password cracking—known as 'brute force attacks'—to breach target networks or devices.

Fortinet did not immediately respond to Reuters' inquiries regarding the scope of the attack disclosed by researchers. Reuters also could not confirm how many stolen passwords have led to actual corporate intrusions.

Reuters noted that the U.S. Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA), the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), and the White House National Cybersecurity Director have not responded to email inquiries. Cybersecurity officials in India and Taiwan have also not replied.

Experts pointed out that the leaked code is written in Russian, suggesting the operation may originate from a Russian cybercrime group. (Translation: Chi-Chin-Ling) 1150618

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