The report says VPN flaws allowed Chinese hackers to compromise dozens of Ivanti customers

In February 2021, the software giant Ivanti It discovered that Chinese hackers had infiltrated the Pulse Secure network, one of its affiliates that provides VPN devices to dozens of companies and government agencies around the world. According to new reports from Bloomberg.

The hackers exploited a secret backdoor they planted in Pulse Secure’s VPN software, Bloomberg reported, citing Ivanti’s chief security officer at the time and other sources. The backdoor allowed hackers to access 119 other unnamed organizations using the same company’s VPN product.

Mandiant was reportedly aware of the breaches as well, alerting Ivanti that hackers had exploited the flaw to hack European and American military contractors.

The previously unreported breach is the latest example of how acquisitions, layoffs and cost-cutting led by private equity firms are helping to jeopardize the quality and security of Ivanti’s most critical technologies. After private equity giant Clearlake Capital Group acquired Ivanti in 2017, Bloomberg reported rounds of cutbacks — particularly in 2022 — affecting employees with deep institutional knowledge of the company’s products and security.

Evanti and Mandiant did not respond to a request for comment.

Bloomberg’s findings echo previous reports about a rival provider of remote access tools, Citrix, which had Large-scale layoffs After a 2022 deal By Elliott Investment Management and Vista Equity Partners to purchase the company. Like Ivanti, Citrix was overwhelmed Cyber ​​security incidents and Critical defects In recent years.

Ivanti’s VPN products have been the cause of at least two other major attacks since then.

In early 2024, the US cybersecurity agency CISA All federal agencies ordered her dismissal Their Ivanti VPN devices were damaged within two days because the hackers were actively exploiting vulnerabilities that were unknown to Ivanti at the time. Evanti too Customers beware Last year, hackers were exploiting another critical vulnerability in its Connect Secure product to compromise corporate customers.