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TL;DR
A Chinese-speaking operator used Cairn, a free, open-source platform for coordinating AI agents, in a campaign that Reuters says broke into websites belonging to more than 100 companies. NorForge observed exposed control panels and measured the agents’ activity, but the amount of data accessed or taken is unknown. The incident shows how automation can let one operator sustain long-running attacks across many targets.
A Chinese-speaking operator used AI agents coordinated through the open-source platform Cairn to target online shops from late September, with Reuters reporting that the campaign breached websites belonging to more than 100 companies. The findings, based partly on exposed attacker control panels, point to a change in the scale and persistence of cyber operations, though it remains unclear whether sensitive information was taken.
According to Reuters and security firm NorForge, the campaign started on September 25 and targeted online shops in the United States, Canada, Australia and Japan. The agents attempted to access more than 1,200 sites by mid-October. Reuters identified company victims by reviewing activity recorded in the attacker’s Cairn system; NorForge’s report did not name those companies.
NorForge researcher Snorre Fagerland searched for Cairn dashboards exposed to the internet and found more than 20 panels the firm linked to likely malicious activity. The largest activity cluster, which NorForge labeled AIA0001, recorded more than 1,100 attack projects across 14 panels, according to the firm. Cairn lets agents share findings and planned actions on a common state board, allowing work to continue with limited operator involvement.
NorForge measured a little under 23 hours of automated probing for successful AIA0001 projects. It estimated the campaign’s AI expenses at about $5,000, or roughly $50 per successful intrusion, while warning that the cost estimate carries “considerable” uncertainty. Deere told Reuters it took “necessary remediation actions” and had “no indication that 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 attack on a website run by a third-party vendor.
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 matters because one operator could coordinate many agents to investigate targets over extended periods. The practical change is not that AI makes every intrusion effortless or guaranteed; the evidence instead shows software carrying out repeated probing and sharing results, reducing the need for an operator to direct every step personally.
NorForge’s findings also point to less prominent online properties, including support pages and vendor-operated sites, as possible entry points into a company’s wider digital footprint. Reuters’ reporting does not establish that a breach of a separate support or vendor site exposed a company’s core systems. Still, the cases underline why organizations need to track and secure websites maintained outside their main infrastructure.
For defenders, automated activity may create more alerts and findings to review. The incident also raises questions about how to identify and manage software agents with access to systems. These are implications of the reported activity, not evidence that every agent-driven campaign will succeed or that AI was solely responsible for the reported intrusions.
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How Exposed Cairn Panels Revealed Activity
The reporting followed a September investigation by Gambit Security, which recovered a criminal staging server and found three programs that allow AI models to act with some autonomy, including Cairn. NorForge then searched for publicly exposed Cairn control panels. The firm said most panels require authorization, but some did not, allowing the researcher to observe activity through the internet-facing interfaces.
NorForge grouped the observed activity into three clusters and published its report on October 19; Reuters published its investigation the same day. The platform’s creator, who uses the name le1xia0, told Reuters that Cairn was not designed for hacking and that harmful use was not their intention. Cairn is a general-purpose problem-solving engine, rather than a tool built specifically for cyberattacks.
The source material also describes a separate campaign documented by Gambit Security in September. That report said at least 27 companies were compromised and at least 600,000 payment-card records were taken from two of them. It is a separate case, not a confirmed part of the Cairn activity reported by Reuters and NorForge.
““Most need authorization to access. Most.””
— NorForge report
Data Access and Attribution Remain Open
It is not yet clear how much data, if any, was taken from the affected websites. Reuters could not establish the extent of any data access. Deere reported no indication that sensitive information was accessed, while SharkNinja said the threat to its standalone support site was contained; those company statements do not settle what happened across all reported victims.
The operator’s identity is also unknown. NorForge described the actor as Chinese-speaking, which does not establish the person’s nationality or location. Reuters reported that two smaller businesses acknowledged being compromised, while some other companies it contacted did not respond. NorForge’s activity counts and cost estimate rely on its analysis of exposed panels and should be read with the firm’s stated uncertainty, not as a complete accounting of the campaign.
Company Reviews and Panel Security
Companies identified in Reuters’ reporting may continue investigating affected sites, checking whether information was accessed and reviewing any third-party services connected to those properties. Deere, SharkNinja and Cummins have each described different response or investigation statuses; the available reporting does not provide a common timeline for further updates.
NorForge’s report draws attention to internet-exposed Cairn dashboards and the risks of leaving management interfaces accessible without authorization. Further reporting would need to establish whether more victims can be confirmed, what data—if any—was obtained, and whether the observed access led to further activity. No arrest or charge is reported in the source material.
Key Questions
What happened in the reported campaign?
A Chinese-speaking operator used Cairn-coordinated AI agents to target online shops beginning September 25, according to Reuters and NorForge. Reuters reported breaches at websites belonging to more than 100 companies.
What is Cairn?
Cairn is a free, open-source platform that coordinates AI agents through a shared state system. Its author says it was not designed for hacking.
Was sensitive information stolen?
The amount of data accessed or taken is unknown. Deere said it had no indication that sensitive information was accessed; Reuters could not establish how much data, if any, was taken across the campaign.
Who was behind the attacks?
The operator has not been identified. NorForge described the actor as Chinese-speaking, which does not establish their identity, nationality or location.
How did researchers observe the activity?
NorForge researcher Snorre Fagerland searched for Cairn dashboards exposed online and monitored panels the firm linked to likely malicious use. Reuters separately reviewed the attacker’s Cairn activity to identify company victims.
Source: ThorstenMeyerAI.com
