Russian group uses AI to exploit weakly-protected Fortinet firewalls, says Amazon

Amazon Threat Intelligence reports a Russian-speaking threat actor is using commercial generative AI services to compromise hundreds of Fortinet Fortigate firewalls, not through product flaws, but via exposed management ports and weak credentials. This campaign highlights how AI lowers the technical barrier for attackers, allowing a small group to achieve operational scale that previously required a larger, more skilled team. The report emphasizes that basic cybersecurity hygiene, such as strong credentials, MFA, and proper network segmentation, remains the most effective defense against such AI-augmented threats.