A special crossover episode of Cybersecurity Today and Hashtag Trending for June 19, 2026. The U.S. Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) has issued an urgent warning after security researchers uncovered the FortiBleed dataset, exposing credentials tied to approximately 74,000 Fortinet firewall and SSL VPN devices across 194 countries. Researchers found the data on an exposed threat actor server containing attack tools, victim databases, logs, and thousands of verified usernames and passwords. Analysts report that tens of thousands of those credentials may still be active. Host Jim Love breaks down: • What FortiBleed is and how it was discovered • Why this affects roughly half of all internet-facing Fortinet devices • What CISA and Fortinet are telling organizations to do immediately • The potential risks of credential reuse and lateral movement attacks • Practical steps security teams should take right now The episode also includes an interview with Mike Sweeney of Silent Push on major international efforts targeting Southeast Asian scam compounds and criminal infrastructure during Operation Disruption Week. If your organization uses Fortinet firewalls, FortiGate appliances, or SSL VPNs, this is an episode you should not miss. #Cybersecurity #Fortinet #FortiBleed #CISA #CybersecurityToday #HashtagTrending #FortiGate #ThreatIntelligence #DataBreach #InfoSec

FortiBleed Emergency: 74,000 Fortinet Logins Exposed

Cybersecurity Today

# Full Transcript

**Podcast:** Cybersecurity Today

## Participants

- **Jim Love** (Cybersecurity Today)
- **Mike Sweeney** (Silent Push)

## Transcript

Welcome to a special crossover edition of Cybersecurity Today and Hashtag Trending for Friday, June the 19th, 2026. I had planned today to do an episode called Sometimes the Good Guys Win. Every once in a while, especially on Fridays and especially in the summer, I try to come up with something that's a little uplifting and I'd found it. A story from someone who's been part of an operation to take down the notorious ring of cyber crooks.

who hide out in Southeast Asia and ruin the lives of North Americans and Europeans with their telephone scams. One of the guys I was talking to is using data analysis to be part of the teams that are bringing down these lowlifes before they can ruin more lives. But life works in mysterious ways and a story came up that I would have covered on both programs anyway. There was a huge discovery of credentials from Fortinet that could have an amazing impact on the internet.

And we need to get the word out. So today's episode was amended. It's still a crossover, but now it's called, I got some good news and I got some bad news. We'll start with the bad news. Warning, this is going to be a little longer than your average episode, but feel free to check out anytime, maybe listen to the rest of it later.

The U.S. Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency or CISA has issued an urgent warning to organizations using Fortinet firewalls and VPN gateways after the discovery of a massive credential dataset known as FortiBleed. According to CISA, the exposed data contains credentials associated with approximately 74,000 Fortinet devices worldwide.

Researchers estimate that this represents roughly half of all internet-facing Fortinet devices currently accessible from the public internet. The concern is not a newly discovered software vulnerability. Instead, the danger comes from the usernames and passwords that appear to provide direct access to Fortinet administrative interfaces and SSL VPN gateways used by organizations around the world.

Because of the scale of the exposure, CISA is urging organizations to immediately terminate active sessions, reset credentials, review logs for evidence of compromise, and enforce phishing-resistant multi-factor authentication.

The larger story emerged when a security researcher, Vladimir Bob Diachenko, discovered the dataset on a server believed to be operated by the threat actors themselves. According to reporting by Bleeping Computer, the server had been left exposed to the public internet. Diachenko told Bleeping Computer they accidentally left an open directory with artifacts, connection strings, tooling, scripts, and data online.

The exposure reportedly provided access not only to the credential database, but also to the infrastructure used to manage it. Researchers found automated scanning tools, credential testing system...

FortiBleed Emergency: 74,000 Fortinet Logins Exposed

Transcript

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FortiBleed Emergency: 74,000 Fortinet Logins Exposed

Transcript

Built for investment professionals

Every day you wait, your competitors are findingedge in conversations you're not hearing.

Every day you wait, your competitors are finding
edge in conversations you're not hearing.