🔍 Read the full analysis: Can A Swarm Of AI Agents Help One Hacker Target More Websites? on ThorstenMeyerAI.com
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TL;DR
A Chinese-speaking operator used Cairn, an open-source platform for coordinating AI agents, to probe more than 1,200 online shops beginning in late September, according to NorForge and Reuters. Reuters reported that more than 100 companies’ websites were breached, based on records left in the operator’s exposed control panels; what data, if any, was taken has not been established.
A Chinese-speaking operator used the open-source Cairn platform to direct AI agents at online shops in several countries, probing more than 1,200 websites from late September and breaking into sites associated with more than 100 companies, according to Reuters and security firm NorForge. The activity matters because it shows how one operator could coordinate prolonged, automated attempts across many targets, while the extent of any data theft remains unknown.
NorForge researcher Snorre Fagerland found internet-accessible Cairn control panels and monitored activity through them. The source article says NorForge identified more than 20 panels it associated with likely malicious activity. The largest group, labeled AIA0001 by NorForge, used Chinese-language task instructions. NorForge counted more than 1,100 attack projects across 14 panels in that group; Reuters separately reported that the operator’s records showed attempts against more than 1,200 sites.
Reuters identified affected companies by reviewing activity in the Cairn panels and contacting organizations. Deere told Reuters it took “necessary remediation actions” and had no indication sensitive information was accessed. SharkNinja said a standalone product-support site was affected and the threat was contained. Cummins said it was investigating a potential cyberattack on a website run by a third-party vendor. Reuters could not establish how much data, if any, was taken.
NorForge measured successful AIA0001 projects as taking a little under 23 hours from start to goal, with about 140 recorded facts per project. It estimated the campaign’s AI costs at roughly $5,000, or about $50 per successful intrusion, while warning that the estimate had considerable uncertainty. These figures are estimates and observations from the activity NorForge examined, not a confirmed accounting of the operator’s total costs or all incidents.
One operator, a swarm of agents
The campaign in numbers
What the researcher and Reuters report about the busiest group NorForge found. Counts come from the attackers’ own exposed panels; cost and success figures are estimates.
The price tag estimates
NorForge / Fagerland, “uncertainty considerable”
- ~$5 per task on average, including tasks that fail early
- $100+ for long projects with more than 1,000 intents and facts
- ~$5,000 in AI costs for the campaign, about $50 per successful hack
- ~10% success rate, NorForge’s “reasonable assumption”
How the swarm runs
Simplified, no attack details
- Shop websites are ranked by traffic and checked automatically in a browser
- Each target becomes a Cairn project: a starting point and a goal
- Agents post facts and next steps on a shared board and build on each other
- Goal: a hidden way back in to shop and payment systems, for later
- 22 SepGambit reportGambitCairn found among three AI harnesses on a criminal’s staging server (separate campaign)
- 25 SepCampaign startsReutersA Chinese-speaking operator turns agents on shops in the US, Canada, Australia and Japan
- ≈ 2 OctOpen panels foundReutersFagerland starts finding Cairn panels in malicious use, about two dozen
- mid-Oct1,200+ sites triedReutersBreaks into websites of 100+ companies, incl. Deere, SharkNinja, Cummins
- 19 OctReport and investigationNorForge · ReutersNorForge publishes “Inside Cairn”; Reuters publishes its investigation
Sources: NorForge, Inside Cairn (19 Oct 2026); Reuters (19 Oct 2026); Gambit Security (22 Sep 2026). Numbers as published, same rounding as the article.
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Automation Expands the Attack Surface
The reported campaign suggests that AI agents can let an operator sustain and coordinate work across many targets without personally directing every step. That does not mean the agents independently found or exploited every weakness: the source describes an operator setting tasks and software agents sharing findings and next actions. The distinction matters when judging both the capability and the human role.
For organizations, the reported focus on online shops and related infrastructure points to risks beyond a company’s main website. Support pages, vendor-run sites and forgotten internet-facing panels may also expose routes into business systems. Automated activity can increase the volume and duration of probing defenders must review, although the source does not quantify how much the tools changed the campaign’s success rate compared with conventional methods.
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How Researchers Traced Cairn Activity
The investigation grew out of a separate report published in September by Gambit Security, which described a criminal staging server containing three agent frameworks: Hermes, Strix and Cairn. NorForge then searched for exposed dashboards associated with Cairn. Fagerland found some panels without password protection and began tracking activity; NorForge published its findings on October 19, the same day Reuters published its investigation.
Cairn is a general-purpose, open-source agent platform, not a hacking product. NorForge describes it as a state-based problem-solving engine that records findings and intended next steps for agents to use. Cairn’s author, who uses the name le1xia0, told Reuters the software was not designed for hacking attacks and that harmful use was not their intention. The platform’s general purpose does not establish who operated the campaign or whether its author had any connection to it.
The September Gambit report described a separate agent-driven campaign involving at least 27 compromised companies and at least 600,000 card records taken from two of them, according to the source material. That report provides context for security researchers’ attention to agent-based activity, but it does not establish that the September incidents and the Cairn campaign were run by the same people.
““Most need authorization to access. Most.””
— NorForge report
Data Loss and Operator Identity
The available reporting does not identify the operator by name. The source describes the actor as Chinese-speaking; that does not establish nationality, location or government affiliation. No arrest or charge is reported in the material provided.
It is also not clear what information, if any, was accessed or removed from the affected sites. Deere said it had no indication sensitive information was accessed, while SharkNinja and Cummins described responses or investigations involving particular sites. Those company statements do not settle the impact across all reported targets. NorForge’s cost figure is an estimate, and its report’s project counts and Reuters’ tally of attempted sites use different measures.
Company Investigations and Further Reporting
Cummins said it was investigating a potential attack involving a third-party vendor’s website. The source material does not give a timetable for that investigation or report a final accounting of affected organizations and data. Further company disclosures or security research may clarify which systems were accessed and whether information was taken.
For now, the clearest next step for readers is to distinguish the reported evidence from open questions: NorForge observed exposed Cairn panels and recorded agent activity; Reuters attributed the company count to its review of the operator’s records and contacted named organizations. The operator’s identity, total impact and the campaign’s full costs remain unconfirmed.
Key Questions
What did the AI agents do?
According to NorForge and Reuters, agents coordinated through Cairn probed online shops and related websites. Reuters reported attempts against more than 1,200 sites and breaches involving websites of more than 100 companies, based on the operator’s records.
Who was behind the campaign?
The operator has not been publicly identified in the source material. NorForge described the activity as Chinese-language, but that alone does not establish the operator’s identity, nationality or affiliations.
Was sensitive data stolen?
That has not been established across the campaign. Deere said it had no indication sensitive information was accessed; Reuters said it could not determine how much data, if any, was taken overall.
Was Cairn designed to hack websites?
No such design purpose is established in the reporting. NorForge describes Cairn as a general-purpose agent platform, and its author said it was not designed for hacking attacks.
How much did the campaign cost?
NorForge estimated roughly $5,000 in AI costs for the campaign, or about $50 per successful intrusion, while describing the estimate’s uncertainty as considerable. It is not a confirmed total cost.
Source: ThorstenMeyerAI.com
