IBM

The incident involves a **403 Forbidden** error, which typically indicates unauthorized access to a restricted resource on IBM’s systems. While the error message itself does not disclose specifics, such incidents can stem from misconfigured access controls, failed authentication attempts, or potential probing by malicious actors (e.g., cyber attackers testing for vulnerabilities). If this error resulted from an external attack—such as a **brute-force attempt, credential stuffing, or exploitation of an exposed API**—it could signal a **security weakness** in IBM’s web infrastructure. However, the provided details do not confirm data compromise, system breach, or operational disruption. The lack of further context (e.g., logs, incident reports) limits assessment to a **potential low-impact security event**, though it warrants investigation to rule out targeted reconnaissance or early-stage cyber threats.

Source: https://www.ibm.com/new/product-blog/ai-powered-threat-intelligence-predicting-cyber-attacks-before-they-happen

TPRM report: https://www.rankiteo.com/company/ibm

"id": "ibm4862048102525",
"linkid": "ibm",
"type": "Vulnerability",
"date": "10/2025",
"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 (350,000+ employees)',
                        'type': 'corporation'}],
 'description': 'A 403 Forbidden error was encountered when attempting to '
                'access an IBM page. Incident Number: '
                '18.561e1202.1761373223.528ac1d8. The page could not be '
                'displayed, possibly due to access restrictions, misconfigured '
                'permissions, or a security measure (e.g., WAF blocking).',
 'impact': {'brand_reputation_impact': 'low (unless part of a broader outage '
                                       'or misconfiguration trend)',
            'downtime': 'temporary (until access is restored or permissions '
                        'corrected)',
            '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)',
 'recommendations': ['Audit web server access controls and WAF rules to '
                     'prevent false positives.',
                     'Implement user-friendly error pages with troubleshooting '
                     'guidance.',
                     'Monitor for patterns of 403 errors that may indicate '
                     'targeted scanning or misconfigurations.'],
 'references': [{'source': 'IBM Error Page'}],
 'response': {'recovery_measures': ['redirect users to IBM homepage',
                                    'provide alternative contact methods for '
                                    'support'],
              'remediation_measures': ['verify URL correctness',
                                       'check case sensitivity',
                                       'review access permissions',
                                       'inspect WAF/ACL rules if internal']},
 'type': ['access_denial', 'potential_security_control_trigger']}