The report says VPN flaws allowed Chinese hackers to compromise dozens of Ivanti customers

In February 2021, software giant Ivanti discovered that Chinese hackers had breached the Pulse Secure network, one of its subsidiaries that provides VPN devices to dozens of companies and government agencies around the world, according to new reports from Bloomberg.

Hackers exploited pre-existing vulnerabilities in Pulse Secure’s VPN software to plant a backdoor, Bloomberg reported, citing Ivanti’s chief security officer at the time and other sources. The backdoor allowed hackers to access 119 other unnamed organizations using the same company’s VPN product.

Mandiant was reportedly aware of the breaches as well, alerting Ivanti that hackers had exploited the flaw to hack European and American military contractors.

The previously unreported breach is the latest example of how acquisitions, layoffs and cost-cutting led by private equity firms are helping to jeopardize the quality and security of Ivanti’s most critical technologies. After private equity giant Clearlake Capital Group acquired Ivanti in 2017, Bloomberg reported rounds of cutbacks — particularly in 2022 — affecting employees with deep institutional knowledge of the company’s products and security.

Ivanti spokesman Cary Ludy disputed Bloomberg’s reporting, saying, “There was never a backdoor planted by hackers into Connect Secure.”

Mandiant did not respond to a request for comment.

Bloomberg’s findings echo earlier reports about rival provider of remote access tools, Citrix, which has undertaken widespread layoffs following a 2022 deal between Elliott Investment Management and Vista Equity Partners to buy the company. Like Ivanti, Citrix has been mired in cybersecurity incidents and serious flaws in recent years.

Ivanti’s VPN products have been the cause of at least two other major attacks since then.

In early 2024, the US cybersecurity agency CISA ordered all federal agencies to disconnect their Ivanti VPN devices within two days because hackers were actively exploiting vulnerabilities that were unknown to Ivanti at the time. Ivanti also warned customers last year that hackers were exploiting another critical flaw in its Connect Secure product to compromise enterprise customers.

This story has been updated to include comment from an Ivanti spokesperson, and to clarify the wording in the second paragraph.