Fortinet Confirms Third-Party Data Breach Amid Hacker’s 440 GB Theft Claim

Fortinet, a major player in the global cybersecurity sector, has disclosed a data breach involving a third-party service, affecting a small number of its Asia-Pacific customers. The breach reportedly exposed limited customer data stored on a cloud-based shared file drive used by Fortinet. However, a hacker, operating under the alias “Fortibitch,” has claimed responsibility for stealing 440 GB of data from the company and leaking it online.

Fortinet's operations primarily cater to the enterprise sector, offering endpoint security solutions, firewall management, and cloud security services. With a market valuation of $60 billion, it ranks among the top cybersecurity firms globally, alongside Palo Alto Networks and CrowdStrike. Its customers span various sectors, including critical infrastructure and government agencies across Five Eyes nations.

Fortinet's incident disclosure

In a statement released to Australian media Cyber Daily, Fortinet confirmed that an unauthorized individual gained access to a third-party cloud drive used by the company. The breach is reportedly limited to a small subset of files, and Fortinet assured that the compromised data involved a restricted number of customers. The company has since notified the affected clients and emphasized that, so far, there is no evidence of malicious activity targeting its customers.

“An individual gained unauthorized access to a limited number of files stored on Fortinet's instance of a third-party cloud-based shared file drive, which included limited data related to a small number of Fortinet customers. We have communicated directly with customers as appropriate,” a Fortinet spokesperson stated. The company also affirmed that the breach has not impacted its operations, products, or services, downplaying any broader implications.

Cyber Daily also reported that the Australian National Office of Cyber Security has acknowledged the incident, stating that they are aware of the reports and ready to assist if needed. At present, no details have emerged regarding the potential involvement of Australian federal government data or critical infrastructure.

Hacker's claims of data theft

In contrast to Fortinet's more cautious statement, a hacker who goes by “Fortibitch” made bold claims on BreachForums, a notorious cybercrime platform. The hacker asserts that 440 GB of data has been extracted from Fortinet's Azure SharePoint, where the files were allegedly stored.

The post includes the credentials to access this data through an S3 bucket. However, this is more of a proof of the breach to the firm and the public, rather than an offering to anyone with the means to retrieve it, as access to that database should be closed now.

The threat actor also referenced Fortinet's recent acquisitions of Next DLP and Lacework, suggesting the data loss resulted during system/data migrations, which is a particularly risky period for organizations. In the same post, the hacker taunted Fortinet's founder, Ken Xie, accusing him of abandoning ransom negotiations. The hacker questioned why Fortinet had not yet filed an SEC 8-K disclosure, which would be required for significant incidents affecting publicly traded companies.

CyberInsider has contacted Fortinet to independently confirm if their incident disclosure is connected to the threat actor's claims, and we will update this story as soon as we hear back from the infosec giant.

Update: Fortinet published an announcement about the incident, clarifying that there was no ransomware or encryption involved, yet still not addressing the validity of the threat actor's claims.