Security researchers have discovered hundreds of copies of a Chinese-made AI hacking tool publicly exposed to the internet for anyone to access, potentially allowing outsiders to launch cyberattacks against unsuspecting targets.
The hacking software, called Artex, is an open source autonomous penetration testing tool, meaning software that automatically probes computer systems for weaknesses, and it’s been linked to several cyberattacks since its public release in July. As open source software, it’s free for anyone to download and run on their own servers, making it a popular tool for those who cannot access Anthropic or OpenAI’s most advanced cybersecurity AI models for discovering security vulnerabilities. Microsoft has previously described Artex as a system of AI agents that can conduct cyberattacks “from reconnaissance through data exfiltration with little needed human interaction.”
Read more…
Source: TechCrunch
Sign up for the Cyber Security Review Newsletter
The latest cyber security news and insights delivered right to your inbox
Related:
- Federal Reserve “breached” data may actually belong to Evolve Bank
June 26, 2024
A shockwave went through the financial world when ransomware group LockBit claimed to have breached the US Federal Reserve, the central banking system of the United States. On LockBit’s dark web leak site, the group threatened to release over 30 TB of banking information containing Americans’ banking data if a ransom wasn’t paid by June 25. ...
- Ransomware disrupts South Africa’s national health lab
June 26, 2024
South Africa’s response to an ongoing Mpox outbreak is being stymied by a ransomware attack against its National Health Laboratory Service, which resulted in the deletion of backup servers and other parts of its system, hindering lab result dissemination since Saturday. While no patient information was noted to be impacted by the compromise, such an attack ...
- New SnailLoad side-channel attack detailed
June 25, 2024
SecurityWeek reports that website and content inferencing could be remotely conducted by threat actors without direct network traffic access via the new SnailLoad side-channel attack technique. Several latency measurements for websites and YouTube videos viewed by targets are being conducted by threat actors to establish digital fingerprints before luring targets to download files from a malicious ...
- LockBit hackers claim to have cracked the US Federal Reserve
June 25, 2024
The LockBit cybercrime gang has claimed to have stolen an enormous database from the US Federal Reserve, which includes sensitive banking information about American citizens – but the claim is being met with suspicion. Earlier this week, the infamous ransomware operator added the Fed on its data leak site, saying it had acquired an archive containing ...
- UK and US cops band together to tackle Qilin’s ransomware shakedowns
June 25, 2024
UK and US cops have reportedly joined forces to find and fight Qilin, the ransomware gang wreaking havoc on the global healthcare industry. In early June, the notorious Russia-based crew attacked Synnovis, which provides pathology services to National Health Service’s London hospitals. The digital intrusion has led to the cancellation or postponement of surgeries for thousands ...
- Indonesian government says national data center was hit in ransomware attack – but it won’t pay up
June 25, 2024
The government of Indonesia has suffered a ransomware attack that crippled many of its organizations and caused quite a nuisance for its citizens – but says it won’t be held to ransom. Government officials confirmed its National Data Center (PDN) was struck on June 20, with the attack apparently organized by an affiliate of LockBit, with ...