Latest cybersecurity reporting from selected sources.

Cybersecurity researchers are calling attention to a new campaign where threat actors are abusing FortiGate Next-Generation Firewall (NGFW) appliances as entry points to breach victim networks.  The activity involves the exploitation of recently disclosed security vulnerabilities or weak credentials to extract configuration files containing service account credentials and network topology

Akira Ransomware Exploited MFA-Protected SonicWall SSL VPNs, Say ResearchersSonicWall said it is probing a surge in attacks against its Gen 7 firewalls, running various firmware versions, which have SSL VPN enabled. Researchers said attackers may have been exploiting a zero-day vulnerability and that multiple victims have been infected with Akira ransomware.

The U.S. Treasury Department has sanctioned Chinese cybersecurity company Sichuan Silence and one of its employees for their involvement in a series of Ragnarok ransomware attacks targeting U.S. critical infrastructure companies and many other victims worldwide in April 2020. [...]

Firewall Vendor Warns Attackers Using Valid Credentials They Previously StoleAttackers wielding an emerging strain of ransomware called Helldown have been gaining a foothold in victims' networks by exploiting a previously unknown flaw in their Zyxel firewalls, security researchers warn. Zyxel has warned attackers may be using valid credentials they previously stole.

Ransomware affiliates exploit a critical security vulnerability in SonicWall SonicOS firewall devices to breach victims' networks. [...]

Chinese hackers used a zero-day exploit for a critical-severity vulnerability in Sophos Firewall to compromise a company and breach cloud-hosted web servers operated by the victim. [...]

"Cyclops Blink" operation disabled firewalls behind the Sandworm hacking team's network of infected victim devices.