China-Linked Hackers Launch First Fully Autonomous AI Cyberattack on Taiwan Government

Suspected China-linked hackers used AI to run the first-ever end-to-end autonomous cyberattack on Taiwan's government, Israeli firm says -- open-source-built tool continuously devised effective hack strategies in real-time

Experts warn that every government should now assume it is under permanent automated assault. Hackers with suspected links to China used publicly available AI tools to carry out what researchers describe as the first observed end-to-end autonomous cyberattack against a government target, compromising at least 85 user accounts and stealing more than 2,500 personnel records from Taiwanese government systems, according to an August 12 Financial Times report, citing researchers at Israeli cybersecurity company Dream. The researchers say the attackers assembled an autonomous hacking platform using open-source AI-agent frameworks, enabling multiple agents to simultaneously map networks, research vulnerabilities, attempt intrusions, and adapt tactics when an attack path failed. The campaign reportedly ran for four days at the beginning of July and at times deployed as many as eight autonomous agents in parallel. Dream said the system mapped 21 government systems before compromising user accounts and extracting personnel information. The attackers subsequently expanded their activity to Taiwan's nuclear safety agency, at least seven energy companies, government suppliers, and other government systems. Dream says it found the evidence inside a 160-megabyte (160MB) online archive that surfaced during its broader tracking of cyberthreat actors. The archive reportedly held 1,395 files showing that the tool was built on two open-source AI agent systems -- Hermes and OpenClaw -- both of which can be downloaded freely and are designed to let large language models carry out multi-step tasks on their own. Researchers could not determine which underlying model powered the agents, but the data reportedly showed the model's safeguards had been sidestepped by presenting the intrusion as an authorized penetration test rather than a real attack. Of particular concern is that the toolkit for the hack comprised such easily available systems, neither of which was purpose-built for offense. The operators appear to have assembled a capable autonomous tool out of components any developer can pull down and run. What the researchers describe as the tool's most striking feature was its ability to continuously devise attacks on its own, rather than follow a preprogrammed route. The platform continuously assessed available evidence, ranked possible attack paths, and reprioritized them as circumstances changed. When one technique failed, the tool tasked another agent with searching the internet for information and developing an alternative approach. Dream stopped short of attributing the campaign to a specific hacking group or country. However, the researchers said the operators' internal communications were written in Simplified Chinese, suggesting what they called a high probability that the operator was connected to China. The company also declined to name the victim, citing policy, but confirmed that it had notified a country in the "Asia-Pacific" region. Also, the data pulled from the target was in Traditional Chinese -- a script used on government sites in Taiwan, Hong Kong, and Macau. Financial Times said a person with knowledge of the incident identified the target as Taiwan. The incident highlights a growing concern within both the cybersecurity and AI industries over what the latest AI models can do autonomously. Anthropic, OpenAI, and Meta have reported instances of new AI models launching unexpected cyberattacks during internal testing, an infamous example being the recent OpenAI agent's attack on Hugging Face. In another instance, OpenClaw wiped the inbox of Meta's AI Alignment director despite repeated commands to stop Researchers have warned that AI agents are making it increasingly easy to automate portions of cyberattacks that previously required skilled human operators, another deadly feature in the era of AI hacking. Dream's chief strategy officer, Amir Becker, warned that the arrival of such tooling used in the Taiwan attack means every government should now assume it is under permanent automated assault. The risk is stark for Taiwan, which was already facing a staggering volume of cyberattacks before agents entered the picture. The island's National Security Bureau reported in January that it faced an average of 2.6 million Chinese cyberattacks per day in 2025, up 6 percent from the previous year. Beijing claims Taiwan as part of its territory and has threatened to use force if necessary to bring the island under its control. According to the Financial Times, Taiwan's Ministry of Digital Affairs declined to comment on the specific incident, citing confidentiality. However, a ministry spokesperson acknowledged that the integration of AI has transformed the nature of security incidents. Follow Tom's Hardware on Google News, or add us as a preferred source, to get our latest news, analysis, & reviews in your feeds.

Chinese Hackers Created a 'Near-Autonomous' Attack Using Open-Source AI

In a disturbing sign, Chinese hackers used open-source AI to create a "near-autonomous attack" capable of stealing data from government agencies. The attack was so efficient that it cracked 85 government accounts through password guessing, pilfered thousands of records, and even discovered access vulnerabilities in a government web application, all within about four days, according to Israeli cybersecurity provider Dream. The attack was launched through a hacker-created software framework that harnesses the free and open-source AI agents Hermes and OpenClaw, which can run autonomously on a computer. The framework used at least eight "sub-agents," each dedicated to specific tasks and targets, whether it be vulnerability testing, password-guessing, or "supply chain reconnaissance." Dream also noted that the AI agents overrode their own safety guardrails because the instructions were framed as "authorized penetration testing," which amounts to stress testing by a cybersecurity vendor. The company's security researchers uncovered the threat last month, discovering "the complete operational workspace of an autonomous AI attack framework that had been actively conducting intrusion campaigns against government entities in Asia." Specifically, the attack was carried out against government agencies in Taiwan, according to The Financial Times, citing an unnamed source. The creators of the attack were likely from mainland China since the computer code used simplified Chinese Mandarin in the internal status reports. Curiously, the computer code switched to traditional Chinese Mandarin in the "target-facing" analysis, suggesting the attack was intended for Taiwan, where traditional Chinese Mandarin is used. Dream's investigation found that the attack stole "2,564+ personnel records," along with a complete user database. "The attacker didn't stop at primary targets. It expanded the operation to government IT supply chain vendors, a nuclear safety agency, a government email system, and 7+ energy sector companies -- scanning them all in parallel for misconfigurations, exposed admin interfaces, and exploitable vulnerabilities," the company added. Dream is now warning that the "era of AI-orchestrated" attacks on government infrastructure is here, meaning countries will need to act promptly to secure their systems. "The cost of running a competent attack has collapsed, but the cost of defending against one has not," it added. The top AI companies have been offering their latest models to the tech industry and the US government to shore up their defenses, including discovering and patching new flaws. But in a bit of irony, the same cutting-edge models have shown they can go rogue and inadvertently hack other systems, posing a potential risk to any company or government agency that adopts them. OpenAI has paused the release of its upcoming Astra model due to its gaining "critical cyber capabilities."

China-linked hackers hit Taiwan in unprecedented 'autonomous' AI cyber attack

AI agents ran simultaneous reconnaissance and break-ins in display of new phase of cyberwarfare Suspected Chinese hackers used publicly available AI tools to compromise government websites in Taiwan in a first-of-a-kind breach, highlighting how artificial intelligence is transforming cyber warfare. The attackers used open-source AI agents to build an autonomous hacking tool that behaved like a co-ordinated cyber team, according to researchers at Dream, an Israeli AI company that first identified the intrusion. Over four days at the start of July, the tool simultaneously deployed up to eight autonomous agents that mapped 21 government systems, researched vulnerabilities and changed tactics when blocked. The tool compromised at least 85 government user accounts, extracting more than 2,500 personnel records before expanding the attack to Taiwan's nuclear safety agency and at least seven energy companies, the research showed. The discovery comes as the AI and cyber industries wrestle with the ability of the latest models to identify and exploit software vulnerabilities. Anthropic, OpenAI and Meta have also reported new AI models launching unexpected cyber attacks during testing. Dream's chief strategy officer, Amir Becker, who previously headed cyber operations for Israel's elite signals intelligence Unit 8200, said he had never before seen such an "end-to-end autonomous attack" on a government target. The advent of AI tools meant governments must now assume they are under permanent cyber attack, he added, saying: "This must be the basic assumption of every government around the globe." A person with knowledge of the attack said the target was Taiwan. Dream declined to confirm the identity of the targeted government, citing company policy, but said it had informed a country in "Asia-Pacific" of the breach. Dream has not attributed the attack to a specific group, but researchers said the use of Simplified Chinese in internal communications linked to the hack meant there was a high probability the operator was connected to China. In contrast, the data recovered from the target was written in Traditional Chinese, as is common only on government websites in Taiwan, Hong Kong and Macau. A spokesperson at Taiwan's Ministry of Digital Affairs declined to comment on the hack, citing confidentiality issues. They added that all incidents "involving government agencies or critical infrastructure will be handled according to established reporting and response procedures". "Hacker attack methods have become increasingly diverse, and in recent years, the integration of AI technology has further transformed the nature of cyber security incidents," the spokesperson said. " AI agents have brought new dual challenges to network security defence: the attacks are automated, and AI agents themselves become new vulnerabilities." Chinese authorities did not respond to requests for comment. Dream was founded in 2023 by Israeli cyber entrepreneur Shalev Hulio and Austria's 39-year-old former chancellor Sebastian Kurz. Hulio rose to prominence in the 2010s as a co-founder of NSO Group, the controversial cyber-surveillance group that was blacklisted by the US in 2021 over the alleged use of its Pegasus software by certain governments to spy on journalists and opposition figures. Headquartered in Tel Aviv, Dream describes itself as a national sovereign AI and cyberdefence company. It was valued at $1.1bn in February 2025 after a $100mn funding round led by Bain Capital. Dream's researchers said they found evidence of the July cyber attack in a 160MB online archive identified during the company's general investigations into the evolving activities of cyberthreat actors. The archive contained 1,395 files showing the hacking tool used two open-source AI agent systems, Hermes and OpenClaw, which can be downloaded and enable AI models to carry out tasks autonomously. The researchers could not identify which AI model was used to power the agents. However, the data showed that the underlying model's safeguards had been bypassed by presenting the hacking activity as an authorised exercise to test for system vulnerabilities. Last November, Anthropic said it suspected Chinese state-sponsored hackers had manipulated its Claude tool to attempt to hack 30 international companies and government agencies, albeit with limited success. The most striking feature of the July attack was how the tool continuously ranked and reprioritised possible attack paths based on available evidence, Dream said. When one attack path failed, the tool deployed another agent to scour the internet for information and devise a new approach as a human hacker would. In its January report, Taiwan's National Security Bureau said the island faced an average of 2.6mn Chinese cyber attacks a day in 2025, up 6 per cent from a year earlier. Beijing claims Taiwan as part of its territory and threatens to annex it by force if Taipei refuses indefinitely to submit to its control.

Chinese Hackers Used AI Agents to Hunt Taiwan Government Systems, Breaching 85 Accounts and Stealing Thou

Suspected China-linked hackers used autonomous AI agents to target government systems in Taiwan in what researchers described as a first-of-its-kind cyberattack. The attack compromised at least 85 government user accounts and extracted more than 2,500 personnel records before expanding to Taiwan's nuclear safety agency and at least seven energy companies, the report said. AI Agents Change The Attack The attackers used two open-source AI agent systems, Hermes and OpenClaw, according to Dream's research. The tool continuously ranked and reprioritized possible attack paths based on available information. When one approach failed, another agent searched the internet and developed a new method. Dream Chief Strategy Officer Amir Becker said he had never seen such an "end-to-end autonomous attack" against a government target. The researchers did not identify the AI model powering the agents. The data showed that its safeguards had been bypassed by presenting the hacking activity as an authorized exercise to test system vulnerabilities. Dream did not attribute the attack to a specific group, but researchers found Simplified Chinese in internal communications, suggesting a high probability that the operator was connected to China. Data recovered from the target was written in Traditional Chinese, commonly used on government websites in Taiwan, Hong Kong and Macau. The development comes as Anthropic, OpenAI and Meta Platforms Inc. (NASDAQ:META) have reported unexpected cyberattacks involving AI models during testing. In a related July report, Taiwan's National Security Bureau said the island faced an average of 2.6 million Chinese cyberattacks a day in 2025, up 6% from a year earlier. The Taiwan Ministry of Digital Affairs did not immediately respond to Benzinga's request for comment. Taiwan Tests An Internet Blackout Separately, Taiwan conducted a large-scale civil defense exercise to test how the island would cope if a Chinese attack disrupted communications. Mobile data was deliberately throttled across central Taiwan for 30 minutes on Monday, leaving millions unable to stream videos, share photos or make video calls. Taichung, a city of nearly 3 million people, was among 14 cities and counties included in the internet-disruption exercise, according to a New York Times report published Tuesday. The drill was part of Taiwan's annual civil defense exercise. Sirens sounded at 2:30 p.m., sending people into shelters, homes, shops, malls and train stations. Authorities also warned residents that simulated attacks on communications infrastructure would affect mobile access and advised them to use fixed-line broadband or indoor Wi-Fi. The exercise tested a concern central to Taiwan's defense: how the island would function if its communications with the outside world were degraded. Taiwan relies heavily on subsea telecommunications cables, and officials have said ships linked to China have sabotaged cables connecting Taiwan with some outer islands. The drill took place alongside Taiwan's 10-day annual military exercises. The government sought to prepare the public without causing widespread panic or disrupting business, holding the exercise after the stock exchange closed. The city government later said the drill went well and that emergency hotline and fire brigade calls were not disrupted. Disclaimer: This content was partially produced with the help of AI tools and was reviewed and published by Benzinga editors. Image via Shutterstock Market News and Data brought to you by Benzinga APIs To add Benzinga News as your preferred source on Google, click here.