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Hacker Uses Autonomous AI Agents to Breach Dozens of Major Corporate Websites
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CNBC TV18•19-10-2026, 15:44
Hacker Uses Autonomous AI Agents to Breach Dozens of Major Corporate Websites
- •A cybersecurity researcher discovered a Chinese-speaking hacker using AI agents to autonomously break into websites belonging to more than 100 companies, including Deere and SharkNinja.
- •The hacker outsourced almost the entire hacking spree to artificial intelligence by leveraging the open-source platform Cairn with minimal human instruction.
- •The automated campaign utilized a mix of AI models like DeepSeek and Claude Code, successfully compromising sites at an estimated cost of about 50 dollars per successful hack.
- •Victims such as Deere and SharkNinja confirmed taking remediation actions and stated that sensitive information was not accessed or that the impact was contained.
- •Experts warn that the successful use of unsupervised agentic AI in cyberattacks marks a dangerous new milestone in digital security threats.
Key Questions Answered
The Chinese-speaking hacker used AI agents to target over 100 companies, including farm equipment manufacturer Deere, home appliance company SharkNinja, and engine maker Cummins, alongside various e-commerce websites.
Cybersecurity researchers discovered that the cybercriminals were utilizing exposed instances of Cairn, an open-source AI problem-solving platform, to coordinate their autonomous hacking operations.
Threat researcher Snorre Fagerland estimated that the campaign consumed roughly $5,000 worth of AI tokens, which translates to approximately $50 per successful site intrusion.
