IBM

The incident involves a **403 Forbidden** error, indicating unauthorized access to a restricted IBM web page or resource. While the error itself does not explicitly confirm a cybersecurity breach, it may suggest a misconfigured access control, failed authentication attempt, or a potential probing attack by malicious actors. If this error is part of a larger pattern—such as repeated unauthorized access attempts—it could signal an early-stage **Cyber Attack** targeting IBM’s systems. The exposure of an **Incident Number (18.6e3f655f.1762993875.3f8d8f64)** in the error message might also imply improper error-handling practices, which could aid attackers in reconnaissance. Though no direct data compromise or operational disruption is evident, the incident warrants investigation to rule out exploitation attempts or vulnerabilities in IBM’s web infrastructure.

Source: https://www.ibm.com/think/podcasts/security-intelligence/ai-slop-cybersecurity-ot-security-fails-lessons-louvre-heist

IBM cybersecurity rating report: https://www.rankiteo.com/company/ibm

"id": "IBM4803148111325",
"linkid": "ibm",
"type": "Cyber Attack",
"date": "5/2025",
"severity": "25",
"impact": "1",
"explanation": "Attack without any consequences: Attack in which data is not compromised"

{'affected_entities': [{'industry': 'technology',
                        'location': 'global (HQ: Armonk, New York, USA)',
                        'name': 'IBM',
                        'size': 'large',
                        'type': 'corporation'}],
 'customer_advisories': 'Users were advised to verify URL spelling, check case '
                        'sensitivity, or visit the IBM homepage.',
 'description': 'A 403 Forbidden error was encountered when attempting to '
                'access an IBM page. Incident Number: '
                '18.6e3f655f.1762993875.3f8d8f64. The page could not be '
                'displayed, possibly due to access restrictions, misconfigured '
                'permissions, or a security measure (e.g., WAF blocking, IP '
                'restriction, or authentication failure).',
 'impact': {'brand_reputation_impact': 'low (unless part of a larger pattern '
                                       'or outage)',
            'downtime': 'temporary (until access is restored or issue is '
                        'resolved)',
            'operational_impact': 'minor (limited to inability to access a '
                                  'specific page)',
            'systems_affected': ['unspecified_IBM_web_page']},
 'investigation_status': 'unconfirmed (could be benign access issue or '
                         'security-related)',
 'post_incident_analysis': {'root_causes': ['potential causes: misconfigured '
                                            'permissions, WAF rule trigger, '
                                            'IP/geoblocking, authentication '
                                            'failure, URL case sensitivity']},
 'recommendations': ['Implement user-friendly error pages with clear guidance '
                     'for 403/404 errors.',
                     'Review WAF/access control rules to minimize false '
                     'positives.',
                     'Monitor for patterns of unauthorized access attempts.',
                     'Ensure URL case-sensitivity is documented for users.'],
 'references': [{'source': 'IBM Error Page'}],
 'response': {'communication_strategy': ['suggested actions provided to '
                                         'end-users (e.g., verify URL, visit '
                                         'IBM homepage)'],
              'recovery_measures': ['restore access via permission adjustments',
                                    'update WAF rules if misconfigured',
                                    'communicate resolution to affected users'],
              'remediation_measures': ['verify URL correctness',
                                       'check case sensitivity',
                                       'review access permissions',
                                       'investigate WAF/ACL rules',
                                       'test from alternate networks']},
 'type': ['access_denial', 'potential_security_control_trigger']}