{
    "title": "Hundreds of Belgian organisations hit by cyber attack",
    "modified_at": "2026-06-23 07:13:54",
    "published_at": "2026-06-23 07:13:00",
    "url": "https://www.belganewsagency.eu/hundreds-of-belgian-organisations-hit-by-cyber-attack",
    "short_url": "http://prez.ly/FrJd",
    "culture": "en_BE",
    "language": "EN",
    "slug": "hundreds-of-belgian-organisations-hit-by-cyber-attack",
    "body": "<p><strong>Around 270 organisations in Belgium, including law firms, local councils and schools, were affected by a cyber attack in February after their firewalls were compromised.</strong></p><p>According to Belgian cybersecurity company Secutec, more than 100 of these organisations can still be accessed online using stolen administrator accounts.</p><p>The attack is linked to a Russian hacking group and targeted systems connected to US cybersecurity firm Fortinet. Secutec described it as one of the biggest security incidents ever involving a cybersecurity supplier.</p><p>Worldwide, more than 75,000 firewalls were compromised, and over 110 million login details were stolen in a campaign that began earlier this year and is still ongoing.</p><p>Hackers gained access through Fortinet&rsquo;s partner portal, which allows IT providers to manage customer networks. This enabled attackers to break into multiple organisations through a single point of access.</p><p>Secutec said poor security practices worsened the problem. None of the affected firewalls used multi-factor authentication, many IT providers reused passwords, and 85% of systems were running outdated software.</p><p>At least 150 affected firewalls in Belgium remain directly accessible from the internet, while 110 can still be accessed using administrator credentials. Secutec has informed Belgium&rsquo;s Cybersecurity Centre about the issue.</p><p>&nbsp;</p><p><sup>&copy; Andrew CABALLERO-REYNOLDS / AFP</sup></p><p>&nbsp;</p><p>&nbsp;</p><p>&nbsp;</p><p>&nbsp;</p>",
    "header": {
        "large": "https://cdn.uc.assets.prezly.com/cf67284e-28c5-49d6-b77f-8a788962ae15/-/preview/1200x1200/-/format/auto/",
        "release": "https://cdn.uc.assets.prezly.com/cf67284e-28c5-49d6-b77f-8a788962ae15/-/preview/1200x1200/-/format/auto/"
    },
    "author": {
        "first_name": "Flanders",
        "last_name": "News Service"
    },
    "format_version": 5
}