A Chinese-speaking hacker used autonomous AI agents to breach more than 100 companies. The campaign targeted more than 1,200 websites and began around September 25, 2026.
Cybersecurity researcher Snorre Fagerland of NorForge reported that the operation required minimal human intervention. The agents autonomously searched for and exploited vulnerabilities, using the open-source AI platform Cairn to coordinate attacks. Fagerland estimated the hacker spent about $5,000 on AI tokens.
Farm equipment maker Deere and home appliance company SharkNinja were among the victims. Deere said it had taken remedial action and had “no indication that sensitive information was accessed.” The full extent of data extracted in the breaches remains unknown.