Software Development Intern

Fortinet bleeding: data from 74,000 firewalls leaked. Fortinet's FortiGate firewalls are the target of a large-scale data leak. Data from nearly 74,000 firewalls worldwide has been made public. Fortinet is dealing with a large-scale data leak affecting its customers. The data of more than 70,000 firewalls has reportedly been exposed by suspected Russian hackers. Fortinet states that the data leak, dubbed 'FortiBleed', is not the result of a vulnerability or hack in its own systems. The U.S. cybersecurity agency CISA has issued an official warning. "Malicious cyber actors are targeting internet-accessible Fortinet devices at government and private organizations, using stolen credentials. This activity involves the exposure of leaked credentials," the organization writes in a public statement. FortiBleed. The leaked data was first investigated by security researcher Bob Diachenko, who sounded the alarm via LinkedIn. He discovered a server containing credentials for 21,634 FortiGate devices, including usernames, email addresses, and passwords in plain text. That first batch is just a preview of the scale of the data leak. Several security experts have launched investigations and are verifying the authenticity of the data. According to security researcher Kevin Beaumont, the majority of the affected firewalls are still online, which would indicate that these are recent credentials that may even still work. This data is normally only available from within the configurations. 74,000 firewalls affected. Security firm Hudson Rock has launched an online tool to map the extent of the leak. Via the 'FortiBleed tracker', you can look up whether URLs and domains of firewalls active in your organization have been compromised. The counter currently stands at 73,932 leaked URLs, originating from 21,387 domains and spread across 194 countries. Hudson Rock is already calling it one of the largest firewall leaks ever. Major names are among the list of affected domains. Spotify, Samsung, Sony, Oracle, Lenovo, Alibaba, Huawei, FedEx, Siemens, and the French parent organization of Orange are reportedly affected. The original discoverer, Diachenko, also mentions a Turkish organization under contract with NATO. The majority of affected companies are located on the American and Asian continents. No hack. Diachenko points toward an unnamed Russian actor who collects hashed credentials from internet-facing FortiGate devices and cracks them using a GPU cluster. The researcher knows this because the perpetrators unintentionally left some documents behind on the server. If the leaked credentials are indeed still ready for use, hackers could use them to simply log in. CISA is urging organizations to terminate all active sessions and take firewalls offline. Suspicious activity can be detected through log data to remove unauthorized accounts. Additional advice includes securing passwords with hashing algorithms, resetting VPN and administrative passwords, and enabling MFA where possible. Fortinet responded via Bleeping Computer that the database was likely compiled during previous incidents and through brute-force attacks. The vendor states with certainty that there is no question of exploited zero-days or a hack of its own systems. Fortinet advises companies to regularly refresh their login details, and preferably as soon as possible if firewalls in your organization are affected. Earlier this week, Fortinet reported three vulnerabilities in its FortiSandbox solution.

Vistula University becomes an Academic Partner of Fortinet. Vistula University is proud to join Fortinet as an Academic Partner. This is an important step towards strengthening the practical dimension of education and better preparing students for work in one of the fastest-growing sectors of today's economy - cybersecurity. The Academic Partner Program supports educational institutions in delivering an industry-recognised training and certification programme in cybersecurity. Through the Fortinet Training Institute, participants gain access to a course library, self-paced and instructor-led classes, as well as practical exercises designed to develop competencies in network and systems security. In practice, this means that Vistula students will use training materials prepared by Fortinet, including presentations and tasks completed systematically throughout the semester. The exercises will be carried out under the supervision and with the support of the course instructor, and their level of difficulty will gradually increase. The programme focuses on issues related to the cybersecurity of Industrial Control Systems (ICS). Participation in the programme gives students not only access to up-to-date knowledge and practical assignments, but also tangible development benefits. After successfully completing all tasks, students will receive an exam voucher which they can use toward the certification exam. Cooperation with Fortinet strengthens the practical character of education at Vistula and connects academic learning even more effectively with labour market requirements. It is also another example of the university's commitment to developing students' digital, technological, and professional competencies.

Fortinet expands G-series with FortiGate 3500G and 400G. Fortinet introduces two new firewalls in its FortiGate G-series. The FortiGate 3500G and 400G are designed to combine higher performance with extra security for AI applications, encrypted traffic, and distributed environments, from the data center to the network edge. Fortinet is expanding its G-series with the FortiGate 3500G and FortiGate 400G. The firewalls are built on the company's NP7 and SP5 processors and run on FortiOS. The chips are ASICs, developed by Fortinet itself. The company aims to differentiate itself from the competition with these unique chips. Capabilities for AI and encrypted traffic. According to Fortinet, the two new firewalls add extra visibility for AI usage within organizations. For example, they support native detection of shadow AI, making unauthorized use of AI solutions visible in real time. Additionally, the systems can apply control mechanisms to protect sensitive data. FortiGuard AI Security Services provides threat intelligence that uses machine learning to help identify and prioritize threats. FortiOS 8.0 also supports Model Context Protocol, an open standard that allows large language models and AI agents to communicate securely with external systems. Furthermore, the operating system can perform deep inspection of traffic between AI agents. Difference between FortiGate 3500G and 400G. The FortiGate 3500G is intended for the data center. The device supports 400Gb connectivity and targets high-density environments where AI workloads and east-west traffic raise the bar for firewall performance. Fortinet also emphasizes hardware controls, secure firmware, and system-level transparency. The FortiGate 400G brings the same approach to the network edge and the mid-market segment. This firewall is designed to enable network segmentation without extra complexity, featuring hardware-accelerated performance and an upgrade path for existing FortiGate firewalls. According to Fortinet, this allows organizations to modernize their network edge with minimal disruption to existing processes.