It has been reported that Citrix has had their internal network breached by international criminals, according to Ars Technica. Citrix is a large virtualization software provider used by many enterprise companies around the world. They are currently investigating these allegations, from a report by the FBI.
Citrix have responded to this incident, saying they have taken necessary action to contain this “We commenced a forensic investigation; engaged a leading cyber security firm to assist; took actions to secure our internal network; and continue to cooperate with the FBI,”
Citrix works with multinationals across the world, including Fortune 500 companies, and alongside government and military organizations. Allegedly, hackers have accessed and downloaded business documents. However, the specific documents that may have been accessed are currently unknown.
After this incident, shares in Citrix fell three percent to $99.77, according to the Financial Times. Citrix continues to investigate these allegations but has reported international hackers likely used a technique that exploits weak passwords, a tactic called “password spraying”. This is a technique in which the adversary will try a single commonly used password (such as “123456”) against many accounts. If unsuccessful, a second password will be tried, and so on until accounts are accessed.
We advise, for maximum security, to use strong passwords, including capital letters and numbers, and to regularly update your passwords. We also recommend using Two Factor Authentication wherever it’s available. This method requires both a password and further validation from another source (e.g. text or app).