Firewall Fallout: How k0t Exploited Exposed Edge Devices to Harvest 70,000+ Credentials
Security teams woke up to a coordinated campaign that systematically targeted internet-facing firewalls and VPN appliances, resulting in the exposure of more than 70,000 credentials and LDAP dumps. Researchers from Group-IB and NyxLab attribute the activity to an operator tracked as k0t (also known as CryptoFeel, Member19, and QazWsxShop). The intrusions—detected largely between February and June 2026—rely less on high-value targeting and more on mass enumeration of exposed devices, leaving…