A hacker used AI agents to breach more than 100 company websites, mostly online stores
Redacción IvokaOct 20, 9:00 AM 3 min
A NorForge researcher tracked a campaign in which AI agents did almost all the work. The estimated cost was about $50 per successful break-in.
A cybersecurity researcher watched a Chinese-speaking hacker leave almost all the work to AI agents to break into the websites of more than 100 companies, Reuters reported. Snorre Fagerland of the firm NorForge presented the findings on Monday.
What is known
- The campaign began on September 25. The agents tried to break into more than 1,200 sites, mainly online stores in the United States, Canada, Australia and Japan.
- Reuters identified Deere, SharkNinja and Cummins among the victims. Deere said it took corrective action and found no sign of access to sensitive information; SharkNinja said the affected system was a separate product support site and that the threat was contained; Cummins was investigating a possible attack on a third-party-run website.
- The hacker used Cairn, an open-source platform that coordinates AI agents. The researcher estimated about $5,000 in tokens, roughly $50 per successful intrusion, although NorForge warns the uncertainty on that figure is substantial.
- Reuters could not determine how much data, if any, was taken.
What it means for your business
The story shows that automating attacks is already cheap, and that online store sites were frequent targets. It is a good time to review who has access to your store and platforms, and to keep everything updated. NorForge said it is working with Reuters to notify those affected.
