CyberHappenings logo
☰
Home Browse Watchlists Experimental About

Track cybersecurity events as they unfold. Sourced timelines. Filter, sort, and browse. Fast, privacy‑respecting. No invasive ads, no tracking.

AI-Assisted Hacker Breaches 600 FortiGate Firewalls in 5 Weeks

First reported
Last updated
3 unique sources, 6 articles

Summary

Hide ▲

A Russian-speaking, financially motivated hacker used generative AI services to breach over 600 FortiGate firewalls across 55 countries in five weeks. The campaign, which occurred between January 11 and February 18, 2026, targeted exposed management interfaces and weak credentials lacking MFA protection. The attacker used AI to automate access to other devices on breached networks, extracting sensitive configuration data and conducting reconnaissance. The attacker successfully compromised multiple organizations' Active Directory environments, extracted complete credential databases, and targeted backup infrastructure, likely in a lead-up to ransomware deployment. The threat actor used the CyberStrikeAI AI-powered security testing platform, which integrates over 100 security tools and allows for end-to-end automation of attacks. The developer of CyberStrikeAI, known as "Ed1s0nZ," has links to Chinese government-affiliated cyber operations and has worked on additional AI-assisted security tools. Team Cymru detected 21 unique IP addresses running CyberStrikeAI between January 20 and February 26, 2026, primarily hosted in China, Singapore, and Hong Kong. Additional servers related to CyberStrikeAI have been detected in the U.S., Japan, and Switzerland. The developer has interacted with organizations supporting potentially Chinese government state-sponsored cyber operations, including Knownsec 404, a Chinese security vendor with ties to the Chinese Ministry of State Security (MSS). Ed1s0nZ has removed references to a CNNVD Level 2 Contribution Award from their GitHub profile. The campaign targeted healthcare, government, and managed service providers. The attackers exploited vulnerabilities CVE-2025-59718, CVE-2025-59719, and CVE-2026-24858. The attackers created a new local administrator account named "support" and set up four new firewall policies allowing unrestricted access. The attackers periodically checked device accessibility, consistent with initial access broker (IAB) behavior. The attackers extracted configuration files containing encrypted service account LDAP credentials. The attackers authenticated to the AD using clear text credentials from the fortidcagent service account. The attackers enrolled rogue workstations in the AD, allowing deeper access. The attackers deployed remote access tools like Pulseway and MeshAgent. The attackers downloaded malware from a cloud storage bucket via PowerShell from AWS infrastructure. The Java malware was used to exfiltrate the contents of the NTDS.dit file and SYSTEM registry hive to an external server (172.67.196[.]232) over port 443.

Timeline

  1. 03.03.2026 16:29 1 articles · 8d ago

    Developer Ed1s0nZ Linked to Chinese Government Operations

    The developer of CyberStrikeAI, known as "Ed1s0nZ," has interacted with organizations supporting potentially Chinese government state-sponsored cyber operations, including Knownsec 404, a Chinese security vendor with ties to the Chinese Ministry of State Security (MSS). Ed1s0nZ has removed references to a CNNVD Level 2 Contribution Award from their GitHub profile.

    Show sources
    Open in new tab
  2. 03.03.2026 02:06 2 articles · 8d ago

    CyberStrikeAI Platform Used in FortiGate Firewall Breaches

    The threat actor used the CyberStrikeAI AI-powered security testing platform, which integrates over 100 security tools and allows for end-to-end automation of attacks. The platform was observed running on port 8080 on the IP address 212.11.64[.]250 and was last seen on January 30, 2026. Team Cymru detected 21 unique IP addresses running CyberStrikeAI between January 20 and February 26, 2026, primarily hosted in China, Singapore, and Hong Kong. Additional servers related to CyberStrikeAI have been detected in the U.S., Japan, and Switzerland. The developer of CyberStrikeAI, known as "Ed1s0nZ," has links to Chinese government-affiliated cyber operations and has worked on additional AI-assisted security tools. The developer's GitHub activity shows interactions with organizations linked to Chinese government-affiliated cyber operations, and the developer received a "CNNVD 2024 Vulnerability Reward Program – Level 2 Contribution Award." Ed1s0nZ has removed references to the CNNVD award from their GitHub profile.

    Show sources
    Open in new tab
  3. 21.02.2026 15:50 5 articles · 18d ago

    AI-Assisted Hacker Breaches 600 FortiGate Firewalls in 5 Weeks

    The campaign targeted healthcare, government, and managed service providers. The attackers exploited vulnerabilities CVE-2025-59718, CVE-2025-59719, and CVE-2026-24858. The attackers created a new local administrator account named "support" and set up four new firewall policies allowing unrestricted access. The attackers periodically checked device accessibility, consistent with initial access broker (IAB) behavior. The attackers extracted configuration files containing encrypted service account LDAP credentials. The attackers authenticated to the AD using clear text credentials from the fortidcagent service account. The attackers enrolled rogue workstations in the AD, allowing deeper access. The attackers deployed remote access tools like Pulseway and MeshAgent. The attackers downloaded malware from a cloud storage bucket via PowerShell from AWS infrastructure. The Java malware was used to exfiltrate the contents of the NTDS.dit file and SYSTEM registry hive to an external server (172.67.196[.]232) over port 443.

    Show sources
    Open in new tab

Information Snippets

Similar Happenings

AI-Driven Attack Acceleration and New Attack Surfaces

AI-powered adversarial systems are significantly reducing the time between exposure and exploitation, leveraging machine speed and scale to identify and exploit vulnerabilities faster than traditional security teams can respond. This acceleration is driven by AI's ability to automate reconnaissance, simulate attack sequences, and prioritize exploitable vulnerabilities. Additionally, AI adoption introduces new attack surfaces, including model context protocol vulnerabilities and supply chain hallucinations.

Open in new tab

Low-Skilled Cybercriminals Use AI for Vibe Extortion Attacks

Low-skilled cybercriminals are leveraging AI to enhance their extortion campaigns, a technique dubbed 'vibe extortion' by researchers. This involves using large language models (LLMs) to script professional extortion strategies, including deadlines and pressure tactics. While the attackers themselves lack technical depth, AI provides coherence and professionalism to their threats. The use of AI in cybercrime has evolved beyond simple grammar improvements to include rapid vulnerability scanning, parallelized targeting, and automated ransomware tasks. Unit 42 researchers highlight that AI acts as a 'force multiplier' for attackers, significantly reducing operational friction and lowering the barrier to entry for cybercriminals.

Open in new tab

FBI Seizes RAMP Cybercrime Forum

The FBI has seized the RAMP cybercrime forum, a platform known for facilitating ransomware operations and other cybercriminal activities. The seizure includes both the forum's Tor site and its clearnet domain, ramp4u[.]io, which now display a seizure notice. The forum was a hub for ransomware gangs to advertise their operations and recruit affiliates. The seizure provides law enforcement with access to a significant amount of data tied to the forum's users, including email addresses, IP addresses, and private messages. This could lead to the identification and potential arrest of threat actors who failed to follow proper operational security (opsec). RAMP was created in 2021 by individuals linked to the now-defunct Babuk ransomware group and was administered by key operators such as Mikhail Matveev (also known as Orange, Wazawaka, and BorisElcin) and Stallman. The forum was a prime hub for various ransomware groups, including LockBit, ALPHV/BlackCat, Conti, DragonForce, Qilin, Nova, Radiant, and RansomHub. Following the seizure, Stallman confirmed there were no plans to rebuild the forum, indicating a significant disruption to the cybercriminal ecosystem. Additionally, the FBI has seized the LeakBase cybercrime forum, a major online forum used by cybercriminals to buy and sell hacking tools and stolen data. The forum had over 142,000 members and more than 215,000 messages between members as of December 2025. The seizure is part of an international joint operation coordinated by Europol, known as 'Operation Leak,' involving law enforcement agencies in 14 countries. The operation included the shutdown of LeakBase's domains, posting seizure banners, and warning members of the seizure. Law enforcement executed search warrants, made arrests, and conducted interviews in multiple countries. The seizure banner notes that the forum's database and all its contents, including IP logs and private messages, will be used for evidentiary purposes in future investigations. The domain nameservers have been switched to ns1.fbi.seized.gov and ns2.fbi.seized.gov. The operation involved around 100 enforcement actions worldwide, including measures against 37 of the most active users of the platforms. LeakBase was active since 2021 and had over 142,000 members, offering access to databases, a market for selling leaks, exploits, and other cybercrime services, and an escrow payment system.

Open in new tab

AI-Specific Attack Vectors Exploit Gaps in Traditional Security Frameworks

In 2024 and 2025, several high-profile incidents demonstrated that traditional security frameworks fail to address AI-specific threats. The Ultralytics AI library was compromised in December 2024, malicious Nx packages leaked credentials in August 2025, and ChatGPT vulnerabilities allowed unauthorized data extraction. These incidents highlight that existing frameworks like NIST CSF, ISO 27001, and CIS Controls do not cover AI-specific attack vectors such as prompt injection, model poisoning, and AI supply chain attacks. The lack of AI-specific guidance in these frameworks leaves organizations vulnerable despite meeting compliance requirements. Security teams need to implement new technical capabilities and build specialized knowledge to defend against these evolving threats.

Open in new tab

AI-Driven Cyberattacks Exploit Network Vulnerabilities

Adversarial AI-based attacks, such as those by Scattered Spider, are accelerating and leveraging living-off-the-land methods to spread and evade detection. These attacks use AI orchestration to perform network reconnaissance, discover vulnerabilities, move laterally, and harvest data at speeds that overwhelm manual detection methods. The Cloud Security Alliance report highlights over 70 ways autonomous AI-based agents can attack enterprise systems, expanding the attack surface beyond traditional security practices. Network Detection and Response (NDR) systems are increasingly being adopted to counter these AI-driven threats by providing real-time monitoring, analyzing network data, and identifying abnormal traffic patterns. NDR solutions can detect fast-moving, polymorphic attacks, summarize network activities, and render verdicts on potential threats, reducing the pressure on SOC analysts. Recent reports from Google's Threat Intelligence Group and Anthropic have revealed new AI-fueled attack methods, including the use of LLMs to generate malicious scripts and AI-orchestrated cyber espionage campaigns. Adversaries are also exploiting AV exclusion rules and using steganography techniques to evade detection. The combined use of NDR and EDR is essential for detecting and mitigating these sophisticated attacks.

Open in new tab