Nation-state hackers gained “long-term, persistent access” to systems at cybersecurity vendor F5 Inc., stealing portions of BIG-IP source code, internal vulnerability information, and limited customer configuration data, Bloomberg reported, citing regulatory filings.
The breach triggered rare, coordinated alerts from U.S. and UK cyber authorities, with a senior U.S. official warning the compromise could lead to “catastrophic” intrusions if customers don’t act immediately, the news outlet said.
F5 said it discovered the intrusion on Aug. 9 and is notifying a “small percentage” of customers whose files were exfiltrated. Stolen materials included details from the company’s product development platform and vulnerabilities under remediation.
The U.S. Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) issued an emergency directive calling the incident a “significant cyber threat targeting federal networks utilizing certain F5 devices and software,” ordering agencies to patch by Oct. 22.
“These same risks extend to any organization using this technology, potentially leading to a catastrophic compromise of critical information systems,” CISA Acting Director Madhu Gottumukkala said in a statement cited by Bloomberg.
Read more at Bloomberg