Hackers have unleashed over 2.3 million malicious classes in opposition to Palo Alto Networks’ GlobalProtect VPN portals since November 14, 2025, in accordance with risk intelligence agency GreyNoise.
This surge, which intensified dramatically inside 24 hours to succeed in a 40-fold improve, represents the very best exercise stage previously 90 days and underscores rising dangers to distant entry programs worldwide.
The assaults primarily goal the /global-protect/login.esp URI on Palo Alto PAN-OS and GlobalProtect platforms, specializing in brute-force login makes an attempt that might expose company networks to unauthorized entry.
GreyNoise researchers famous the speedy buildup beginning final week, with exercise peaking as organizations rely closely on these VPNs for safe distant work. This marketing campaign not solely threatens information breaches but in addition highlights persistent vulnerabilities in extensively used community safety instruments.
Surge Linked to Coordinated Menace Actors
GreyNoise has uncovered sturdy ties between this Palo Alto assault and earlier malicious campaigns, attributing them with excessive confidence to overlapping risk actors.
Key indicators embrace constant TCP and JA4t fingerprints throughout incidents, shared infrastructure by way of recurring Autonomous System Numbers (ASNs), and synchronized timing in exercise spikes.
These patterns recommend a classy, presumably state-sponsored or cybercrime operation iterating on confirmed ways to probe for weaknesses in enterprise defenses.
The infrastructure behind the assaults is very concentrated, with 62% of classes originating from AS200373 (3xK Tech GmbH), a German firm, forming the marketing campaign’s spine.
An extra 15% traces to the identical ASN however is routed via Canadian clusters, indicating distributed internet hosting to evade detection. Secondary contributions come from AS208885 (Noyobzoda Faridduni Saidilhom), reinforcing a coordinated footprint that spans continents.
Targets seem geographically centered, with america, Mexico, and Pakistan every going through roughly equal volumes of login probes. This distribution might replicate attackers prioritizing high-value areas or leveraging stolen credential lists from various sources.
For defensive searching, GreyNoise highlighted two JA4t fingerprints protecting all noticed exercise: 65495_2-4-8-1-3_65495_7 and 33280_2-4-8-1-3_65495_7.
Indicator TypeValueASN (Major)AS200373 (3xK Tech GmbH)ASN (Secondary)AS208885 (Noyobzoda Faridduni Saidilhom)JA4t Fingerprint 165495_2-4-8-1-3_65495_7JA4t Fingerprint 233280_2-4-8-1-3_65495_7Target URI/global-protect/login.esp
This incident echoes historic patterns noticed by GreyNoise, the place spikes in Fortinet VPN brute-force assaults usually precede vulnerability disclosures inside six weeks, a pattern first famous in July 2025.
Related surges hit Palo Alto portals in April and October 2025, prompting advisories and linked to broader campaigns in opposition to Cisco and Fortinet gadgets.
Organizations ought to audit uncovered GlobalProtect portals, implement multi-factor authentication, and monitor for these indicators to stop potential exploits.
As distant entry stays a primary vector for ransomware and espionage, this 2.3 million-attack wave serves as a stark reminder for enterprises to harden VPN configurations amid rising risk sophistication.
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