AI agents conducted a hacking attack, over 100 companies affected

A coordinated hacking attack was reported by cybersecurity researcher Snorre Fagerland from the company NorForge. According to his analysis, a hacker from China utilized the Cairn platform to coordinate AI agents. The agents independently analyzed websites, searched for security vulnerabilities, and attempted to exploit the discovered flaws in the architecture of services. Notably, successful breaches were completed on average within 23 hours of initiation. The hacking attack began in late September 2026 and affected over 1200 websites in the United States, Canada, Australia, and Japan.

Approximately 100 websites were successfully compromised, with the entire operation estimated to have cost only 5,000 dollars. Among the affected were well-known brands, including agricultural equipment manufacturer John Deere, which reported no signs of sensitive information leaks. However, appliance manufacturer SharkNinja noted issues with the functionality of its support website.