The AI Advantage: How Threat Actors Are Weaponizing Generative AI Against FortiGate Devices

The landscape of cyber warfare is undergoing a rapid evolution, with artificial intelligence (AI) emerging as a powerful, albeit concerning, new tool in the arsenal of threat actors. A recent campaign, observed between January 11 and February 18, 2026, has sent shivers through the cybersecurity community: a financially motivated group successfully compromised over 600 FortiGate devices across more than 55 countries, all while leveraging various commercial generative AI services. This incident serves as a stark warning, demonstrating how AI is significantly lowering the technical barrier to offensive cyber operations, empowering even low- to medium-skilled individuals to execute sophisticated attacks.

AI-Powered Exploitation: A New Frontier in Cybercrime

This brazen campaign highlights a troubling trend: the weaponization of readily available AI tools for malicious purposes. The threat actor in question did not rely on advanced proprietary AI systems. Instead, they skillfully integrated commercial generative AI services into their attack workflow. While specifics of the AI’s application are still under analysis, it’s highly probable these services were used for tasks such as:

• Vulnerability Research and Exploitation Script Generation: AI can quickly sift through vast datasets of vulnerability disclosures and exploit code, identifying potential attack vectors and even generating custom scripts for specific vulnerabilities.
• Phishing and Social Engineering Campaign Crafting: Generative AI excels at producing convincing and contextually relevant text, making it ideal for creating highly effective phishing emails, social media posts, and other social engineering lures.
• Bypassing Security Controls: AI can be employed to analyze security system responses, identify patterns, and adapt attack methodologies to evade detection.
• Automated Reconnaissance: Gathering information about target networks and systems can be expedited through AI-driven data aggregation and analysis.

The success of this campaign underscores the critical need for organizations to adapt their defensive strategies to counter AI-enhanced threats.

Understanding the FortiGate Compromise

While the initial report from Cybersecurity News did not explicitly detail the specific vulnerabilities exploited, the focus on FortiGate devices suggests the attackers likely capitalized on known or perhaps newly discovered weaknesses within the FortiOS operating system. Historically, FortiGate devices, due to their widespread deployment as network security appliances, have been targets for various threat actors. Recent high-profile vulnerabilities affecting FortiGate include:

• CVE-2023-27997: A critical heap-based buffer overflow vulnerability in FortiOS SSL-VPN that could allow a remote unauthenticated attacker to execute arbitrary code or commands via specially crafted requests. (CVE-2023-27997)
• CVE-2022-42475: Another critical heap-based buffer overflow in FortiOS SSL-VPN that could lead to remote code execution. (CVE-2022-42475)
• CVE-2022-40684: An authentication bypass vulnerability in FortiGate and FortiProxy that could allow an unauthenticated attacker to perform operations on the administrative interface via specially crafted HTTP or HTTPS requests. (CVE-2022-40684)

Organizations running unpatched or misconfigured FortiGate devices remain at significant risk. The “financially motivated” nature of the attacks points toward objectives such as data exfiltration, ransomware deployment, or establishing persistent access for future monetization.

Remediation Actions: Fortifying Your FortiGate Defenses

In light of this aggressive AI-powered campaign, immediate and comprehensive action is crucial for all organizations utilizing FortiGate devices. Proactive measures are the best defense against evolving threats:

• Patch Management is Paramount: Immediately identify and apply all available security patches and firmware updates for your FortiGate devices. Prioritize patches addressing known critical vulnerabilities, especially those related to SSL-VPN and administrative interfaces.
• Strong Authentication Mechanisms: Implement multi-factor authentication (MFA) for all administrative interfaces and remote access services, including SSL-VPN. Enforce strong, unique passwords that are regularly audited.
• Segment Networks: Isolate critical systems and data from less secure parts of the network using VLANs and firewall rules. This limits lateral movement even if one segment is compromised.
• Regular Audits and Configuration Reviews: Periodically review your FortiGate configurations, firewall rules, and access policies. Remove unnecessary services, ports, and user accounts.
• Intrusion Detection/Prevention Systems (IDS/IPS): Ensure your FortiGate’s built-in IDS/IPS capabilities are fully enabled, up-to-date, and actively monitored. Configure alerts for suspicious activity.
• Log Monitoring and SIEM Integration: Centralize FortiGate logs into a Security Information and Event Management (SIEM) system. Actively monitor these logs for abnormal activity, failed login attempts, and unusual traffic patterns.
• Geolocation Restrictions: If applicable, restrict administrative access to FortiGate devices from specific geographical locations where your administrators reside.
• Zero Trust Principles: Adopt a Zero Trust security model, where no user or device is trusted by default, regardless of whether they are inside or outside the network perimeter.
• Employee Training: Educate IT staff and end-users about social engineering tactics, phishing risks, and the importance of reporting suspicious activity.

Tools for Detection and Mitigation

Leveraging appropriate tools can significantly bolster your defense against AI-enhanced attacks targeting FortiGate and other network devices. Here’s a selection of useful tools:

Tool Name	Purpose	Link
FortiAnalyzer	Centralized logging, reporting, and analysis for FortiGate devices. Essential for threat hunting.	https://www.fortinet.com/products/security-operations/fortianalyzer
FortiManager	Centralized management of FortiGate devices, including firmware updates and policy enforcement.	https://www.fortinet.com/products/security-operations/fortimanager
Nessus (Tenable.io)	Vulnerability scanner to identify unpatched FortiGate devices and other network vulnerabilities.	https://www.tenable.com/products/nessus
OpenVAS / Greenbone Community Edition	Open-source vulnerability scanner to detect known FortiGate exploits and misconfigurations.	https://www.greenbone.net/en/community-edition/
Wireshark	Network protocol analyzer for deep packet inspection and suspicious traffic pattern analysis.	https://www.wireshark.org/
Splunk / ELK Stack	SIEM platforms for sophisticated log aggregation, analysis, and real-time threat detection.	https://www.splunk.com/ https://www.elastic.co/elastic-stack

The Inevitable Rise of AI in Cyberattacks

This incident is not an isolated anomaly but rather a critical preview of the future of cyber warfare. The accessibility and capabilities of generative AI are transforming the threat landscape at an unprecedented pace. The ability for a “low- to medium-skilled individual” to orchestrate such a wide-ranging compromise signals a significant shift. Organizations must recognize that AI will continue to lower the entry barriers for attackers, enabling more potent and widespread campaigns.

The proactive defense of digital assets now requires an understanding not only of traditional attack vectors but also how AI can augment and accelerate these threats. Remaining vigilant, continually updating defenses, and fostering a culture of cybersecurity awareness are no longer optional but essential for survival in this rapidly evolving threat landscape.