In February 2021, software giant Ivanti discovered that Chinese hackers had breached the network of Pulse Secure, one of its subsidiaries that provided VPN appliances to dozens of companies and government agencies around the world, according to new reporting by Bloomberg . The hackers exploited preexisting vulnerabilities in Pulse Secure’s VPN software to plant a backdoor, Bloomberg reported, citing Ivanti’s chief security officer at the time and other sources. The backdoor allowed the hackers to gain access to 119 other unnamed organizations that used the company’s same VPN product. Mandiant was reportedly aware of the breaches as well, alerting Ivanti that hackers had exploited the bug to breach European and U.S. military contractors.  The previously unreported breach is the latest example of how acquisitions, layoffs, and cost-cutting driven by private equity firms helped to compromise the quality and security of Ivanti’s most critical technologies.…