Key facts
- Over 100 companies, including Deere, SharkNinja, and Cummins, were targeted by a hacker using AI agents.
- Successful intrusions typically took around 23 hours of probing for vulnerabilities.
- The AI campaign cost approximately $5,000 in tokens, with an estimated $50 per successful hack.
- The hacker used AI models including China's DeepSeek and Anthropic's Claude Code.
- The AI agents demonstrated sophisticated techniques to find and exploit vulnerabilities.
A Chinese-speaking hacker has used artificial intelligence agents to breach the websites of over 100 companies, including major firms like Deere, SharkNinja, and Cummins, over the past few weeks. Cybersecurity researcher Snorre Fagerland discovered the activity while monitoring instances of the open-source AI platform Cairn being used maliciously. The hacker outsourced the intrusions almost entirely to AI agents, which autonomously probed for vulnerabilities and executed attacks, with successful breaches typically taking around 23 hours. The campaign, estimated to have cost about $5,000 in tokens, utilized AI models such as China's DeepSeek and Anthropic's Claude Code. Fagerland noted the sophistication of the AI agents' techniques, stating it was beyond basic script-kiddie activity. Deere reported taking necessary remediation actions with no indication of sensitive data access, while SharkNinja confirmed the threat was contained to a standalone site with product support information. Cummins is investigating a potential attack on a third-party vendor's website.