From August–September 2026, Chinese-speaking attackers used an open-source AI penetration testing framework called Cairn to autonomously conduct 25 operations against at least 19 organizations. The attackers weaponized Cairn by pairing it with Chinese AI models Zhipu GLM and DeepSeek.
The attackers supplied a target and a goal, then Cairn planned, executed and recorded results on its own. These attacks achieved unauthorized access or data retrieval at 10 of the targeted organizations, including:
- Accessing dozens of valid credentials
- Mass exposing personal data (exceeding one million records at one organization)
- Retrieving military and government identities
- Creating persistent administrator accounts in a production system
- Modifying a live industry standards-ballot document
Read more…
Source: Palo Alto Unit 42
Sign up for the Cyber Security Review Newsletter
The latest cyber security news and insights delivered right to your inbox
Related:
- Starbleed bug impacts FPGA chips used in data centers, IoT devices, industrial equipment
April 20, 2020
A team of academics says they’ve discovered a new security bug that impacts Xilinx FPGA (Field Programmable Gate Arrays) chipsets. Named Starbleed, the bug allows attackers — with both physical or remote access — to extract and tamper with an FGPA’s bitstream (configuration file) to reprogram the chip with malicious code. FPGAs are add-in cards that can ...
- Cognizant hit by ‘Maze’ ransomware attack
April 19, 2020
Cognizant Technology Solutions Corp on Saturday said it was hit by a “Maze” ransomware cyber attack, resulting in service disruptions for some of its clients. The information technology services provider said it was taking steps to contain the incident, with the help of cyber defense companies, and has also engaged with law enforcement authorities. Ransomware is a ...
- Prague Airport says thwarted several cyber attacks; hospitals also targeted
April 18, 2020
Prague Airport and a regional Czech hospital said on Saturday they had thwarted cyber attacks on their IT networks, reinforcing warnings by the national cyber security watchdog of likely attempts to harm the country’s infrastructure. “Attempted attacks on web pages of the airport were detected in preparatory phases,” the airport’s spokeswoman said in an emailed statement. ...
- German government might have lost tens of millions of euros in COVID-19 phishing attack
April 18, 2020
The government of North Rhine-Westphalia, a province in western Germany, is believed to have lost tens of millions of euros after it failed to build a secure website for distributing coronavirus emergency aid funding. The funds were lost following a classic phishing operation. Cybercriminals created copies of an official website that the NRW Ministry of Economic Affairs had set ...
- DHS CISA: Companies are getting hacked even after patching Pulse Secure VPNs
April 17, 2020
Companies that run Pulse Secure VPN servers are still at risk of getting hacked, despite patching vulnerable systems, cyber-security agencies from the US and Japan have warned this month. Pulse Secure VPN servers are enterprise-grade VPN gateways that companies use to let workers connect to internal company networks from across the internet. Last year, a major vulnerability ...
- PoetRAT Trojan targets energy sector using coronavirus lures
April 17, 2020
Government and energy sectors are being targeted in a new campaign that weaponizes the coronavirus outbreak. On Thursday, Cisco Talos researchers Warren Mercer, Paul Rascagneres and Vitor Ventura published an analysis of a new campaign that deploys PoetRAT, a previously-undiscovered Remote Access Trojan (RAT) striking both the Azerbaijan government and utility companies. According to the team, the malware attacks supervisory control ...