Security researchers have detected a “sharp rise” in brute-force attempts to hijack SonicWall and Fortinet devices, with the vast majority (88%) appearing to come from the Middle East. Barracuda said most of these attempts were unsuccessful as they were either blocked outright by security tools or directed at invalid usernames. Although these attacks may simply have been routed through servers and networks in the region, the timing would seem to coincide with US and Israeli hostilities against Iran. There have been various reports of attacks from Iranian-affiliated hackers over recent weeks, including raids against US critical infrastructure providers and medtech firms. The line between state-backed efforts and financially motivated cybercrime is increasingly blurred, as evidenced by the…