Hacker Uses AI Agents to Breach 100+ Company Websites Including John Deere and SharkNinja
15 Sources
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A hacker broke into John Deere and SharkNinja with an army of AI agents
A hacker broke into more than 100 websites using an army of AI agents that mostly operated on their own, according to findings from the AI security firm Norforge. Though Norforge doesn't name the targets, Reuters reports that the victims included companies like John Deere, SharkNinja, and
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A Chinese hacker used AI agents to break into more than 100 company websites -- Deere and SharkNinja among websites hit by open-source AI-powered problem-solving platform demo
Why break into websites yourself when you can task AI bots to do it for you? A Chinese-speaking hacker has been observed using artificial intelligence (AI) agents to probe and then gain unauthorized access to more than 100 websites belonging to some extremely well-known companies. From Deere, the
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Hackers Use Autonomous AI Agents to Breach Company Websites, Target Over 1,200 Sites
A Chinese-speaking criminal pointed autonomous AI agents at company websites and let them break in with almost no help, and a security researcher watched it happen because the operators left their control panels open on the internet. The agents tried more than 1,200 sites and reached websites
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EXCLUSIVE: How one hacker used AI agents and a few thousand dollars to break into scores of sites
WASHINGTON, Oct 19 (Reuters) - Over the past couple of weeks, a cybersecurity researcher watched as a Chinese-speaking hacker broke into websites belonging to more than 100 companies, including farm equipment maker Deere (DE.N), opens new tab, home appliance company SharkNinja (SN.N), opens new tab
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The Fear of a One-Man-Band Weaponizing AI Agents Is Becoming Reality
Hundreds of websites have been compromised as a lone hacker is reportedly catching up with the times. More than 100 websites belonging to businesses large and small were hit by a hacking collective over the last couple of weeks, stealing data, credit card numbers, and cryptocurrency. Except the
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'It's not script kiddie stuff': AI agents hack 100+ sites for one hacker
Reuters identified Deere, SharkNinja and Cummins among the victims. The hacker's agents tried more than 1,200 sites, and the researcher put the cost at about $50 per successful hack. A cybersecurity researcher watched a Chinese-speaking hacker break into the websites of more than 100 companies,
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Chinese hacker hits over 100 company websites using AI agents -- Deere and SharkNinja among top brands affected in attack
* A hacker used AI agents to target more than 1,200 websites, compromising over 100 in under a month * Autonomous agents tested vulnerabilities, adapted tactics, and established access with minimal human input * Researchers warn AI-powered attacks are making large-scale website compromise faster
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Man Hires Swarm of AI Agents to Go on Epic Hacking Spree Against Major Companies
A cybercriminal used AI agents to commit a string of attacks against more than 100 different companies -- an alarming incident that shows how autonomous agents with advanced AI hacking capabilities have exponentially raised the threat that a single human hacker can pose. As Reuters first reported,
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Powerful new AI models are behind a growing wave of cyber attacks, experts say | Fortune
Starting on Sept. 25, a hacker set loose an army of AI agents that attempted to break into over 1,200 websites over the next few weeks -- autonomously, with no additional work required of the human hacker after sending them off on their task. The agents successfully breached about 100 companies,
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Hacker used AI agents to breach 100+ sites, including John Deere
Norforge estimated an average cost of about $5 per task and a success rate near 10% across the AI hacking tools it observed Norforge detailed a hacking campaign on Monday in which a hacker directed AI agents to break into more than 100 websites. The victims included John Deere $DE, SharkNinja and
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How one hacker used AI agents and a few thousand dollars to break into scores of sites
A cybersecurity researcher observed a Chinese-speaking hacker employing AI to compromise various companies' websites. The hacker utilised an AI platform called Cairn, automating complex intrusion activities without human supervision. This hacking campaign targeted over 1,200 sites, with successful
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Hackers Use AI Agents to Do Hacking for Them | PYMNTS.com
New research shows the growing use of AI-powered hacking systems in cybercrime operations. The trend was uncovered in an investigation by cybersecurity firm NorForge, findings from which were published Monday (Oct. 19). The company's investigation into publicly exposed artificial intelligence
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How one hacker used AI agents and a few thousand dollars to break into scores of sites: Reuters exclusive
WASHINGTON -- Over the past couple of weeks, a cybersecurity researcher watched as a Chinese-speaking hacker broke into websites belonging to more than 100 companies, including farm equipment maker Deere, home appliance company SharkNinja and engine manufacturer Cummins. Yet the hacker did almost
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A hacker let AI hack over 100 companies for $5,000
A Chinese hacker let artificial intelligence do almost all the work for him. In two weeks, he targeted nearly 100 companies, including Deere, SharkNinja and Cummins. Cybersecurity researcher Snorre Fagerland spotted a Chinese hacker attacking over 100 companies without doing any of the work
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How one hacker used AI agents and a few thousand dollars to break into scores of sites
WASHINGTON, Oct 19 (Reuters) - Over the past couple of weeks, a cybersecurity researcher watched as a Chinese-speaking hacker broke into websites belonging to more than 100 companies, including farm equipment maker Deere, home appliance company SharkNinja and engine manufacturer Cummins. Yet the
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A Chinese-speaking hacker deployed autonomous AI agents to breach more than 100 company websites, including John Deere, SharkNinja, and Cummins. Using the open-source platform Cairn with minimal instructions, the AI-powered cyberattacks successfully compromised roughly 10% of 1,200 targeted sites at approximately $50 per breach.
Autonomous AI Agents Execute Large-Scale Cyberattacks
A Chinese-speaking hacker orchestrated AI-powered cyberattacks against more than 1,200 websites, successfully breaching over 100 companies including John Deere, SharkNinja, and Cummins
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. Security researchers at NorForge discovered the operation while scanning for exposed instances of Cairn, an open-source platform that coordinates autonomous AI agents for problem-solving tasks2
. The campaign, which began around September 25, targeted e-commerce websites across the United States, Canada, Australia, and Japan4
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Source: Hacker News
Snorre Fagerland, principal threat researcher at NorForge, monitored the attacks in real-time after discovering approximately two dozen exposed Cairn instances being used maliciously
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. The hacker provided minimal guidance, sketching out preferred intrusion tactics in fewer than 100 Chinese characters4
. From there, the AI agents operated almost entirely on their own, conducting vulnerability exploitation and executing data breaches with little human intervention.How AI-Driven Cyberattacks Breach Company Websites
The autonomous AI agents demonstrated sophisticated techniques during their attacks. In one documented case, after failing to find weaknesses in a company's public-facing application, the agents systematically pored through digital records to locate associated infrastructure, identified a public-facing control panel, discovered a subtle vulnerability in data processing, and after hours of trial and error, successfully leveraged it to execute malicious commands
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."It's not straightforward to come up with solutions like that," Fagerland told Reuters. "It's not script kiddie stuff."
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Successful intrusions typically required around 23 hours of autonomous probing and testing
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. The campaign achieved roughly a 10% success rate, with the AI agents successfully compromising approximately 100 sites out of 1,200 attempts5
. NorForge's analysis revealed that one documented intrusion exploited unauthorized write access to a memcached session store, unsafe handling of saved PHP objects, and weaknesses in old Zend Framework code3
.The Economics of AI-Powered Cybersecurity Breach Operations
The financial barrier to executing these AI-driven cyberattacks proved remarkably low. Fagerland estimated the entire campaign consumed approximately $5,000 worth of tokens, translating to roughly $50 per successful hack
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. NorForge calculated the average cost at approximately $5 per task when counting failed or prematurely ended attempts, though the firm cautioned this figure carries considerable uncertainty3
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Source: PYMNTS
The operation appeared to utilize a combination of DeepSeek and Claude Code, according to NorForge's analysis
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. Some attacks required prompts as simple as "fetch credit cards" or "fetch crypto," demonstrating how accessible malicious AI has become for cybercriminals with limited technical expertise5
.Beyond the primary campaign, NorForge observed other malicious actors using similar techniques. One hacker successfully stole credit card data, while another attempted to rob a cryptocurrency exchange
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.Company Responses and Data Breach Impact
John Deere confirmed the cybersecurity breach but stated it had taken "necessary remediation actions" and found "no indication that sensitive information was accessed"
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. SharkNinja reported the attack impacted only a standalone product support information site and that the threat had been contained1
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. Cummins acknowledged investigating "a report of a potential cyber-attack on a website operated by one of our third-party vendors"1
.Two smaller businesses also confirmed being compromised, while other victims listed in the Cairn data did not respond to inquiries
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. Reuters could not determine the full extent of unauthorized data extraction resulting from these data breaches4
.Related Stories
The Open-Source Platform Cairn at the Center of Controversy
Cairn functions as a penetration testing tool that gives AI agents a starting point and goal, then allows them to work autonomously toward completion
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. The agents document their progress on a shared board, with human operators able to provide hints along the way3
. While designed for authorized penetration testing and other legitimate purposes, the platform has proven popular among hackers seeking to automate cyberattacks1
.Cairn's creator, who uses the handle @le1xia0, defended the platform in a statement to Reuters, saying it "was not designed for hacking attacks" and that "harmful use is not my intention"
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. In a post on X, they emphasized that Cairn represents "an innovative type of multi-agent architecture" and clarified that "misuse is a human decision, not a feature of the engine"1
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.The exposed Cairn panels created additional security risks beyond the immediate breaches. These panels revealed which sites were being targeted, what vulnerabilities were discovered, and which credentials and keys were stolen
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. NorForge ran the secrets scanner Trufflehog over the panel data and identified hundreds of secrets, with 11% verified as still valid3
. NorForge is working to remove the malicious Cairn instances from the internet1
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Source: Futurism
Rising Threat of Autonomous AI in Cybersecurity
This incident represents tangible evidence that commercially available autonomous AI agents can execute complex intrusions from start to finish without human intervention, dramatically amplifying the capabilities of individual malicious actors. "It's a new world now," Fagerland stated
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.The ability of AI agents to operate with minimal supervision marks a significant shift in cybersecurity threats. Organizations now face adversaries who can launch sophisticated, sustained attacks while focusing their attention elsewhere
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. Watch for increased investment in AI-powered defense systems as companies recognize that traditional security measures may prove insufficient against autonomous attackers capable of adapting their tactics in real-time.References
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