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TL;DR
Reuters, drawing on records from exposed Cairn control panels and company responses, reported that an operator used AI agents to target more than 1,200 websites from late September into mid-October, with break-ins at websites of more than 100 companies. NorForge estimates the campaign’s AI costs at about $5,000, but says that estimate is highly uncertain; the extent of any data theft has not been established.
An unidentified Chinese-speaking operator used AI agents coordinated through the open-source Cairn platform to target more than 1,200 websites from late September into mid-October, Reuters reported, citing the attackers’ activity records. Reuters said it identified break-ins at websites of more than 100 companies, including Deere, SharkNinja and Cummins; how much information, if any, was taken remains unknown.
Security firm NorForge said researcher Snorre Fagerland found internet-accessible Cairn control panels and observed activity through them. The firm linked more than 20 exposed panels to likely malicious use and grouped observed activity into three clusters. Reuters and NorForge published their investigations on October 19. The largest cluster, which NorForge labels AIA0001, used Chinese-language task instructions and targeted companies across several countries.
NorForge counted more than 1,100 attack projects across 14 panels in that cluster, while Reuters reported that the agents had tried more than 1,200 sites overall. Those figures describe different records and scopes: Reuters attributed its count to the operator’s own activity data, while NorForge’s project count covered the panels it analyzed. Reuters independently reviewed Cairn activity and contacted companies; NorForge’s report did not name victims. Two smaller businesses acknowledged compromises, Reuters said, while some others did not respond.
The companies gave differing accounts of the impact. 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 attack on a website run by a third-party vendor. Reuters could not establish whether data was taken or how much.
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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The Cost of Sustained Website Probing
The report’s significance is not that AI has been shown to make every intrusion effortless. Rather, it describes how an operator could delegate repeated website probing to agents that share findings and continue working with limited hands-on direction. NorForge measured successful projects in the AIA0001 cluster as taking a little under 23 hours from start to goal, with about 140 recorded facts per project. One ran for more than five days. These are observations from the activity NorForge examined, not a guarantee that agents can compromise any chosen site.
NorForge estimated the campaign’s AI costs at roughly $5,000 overall, or about $50 per successful intrusion, while warning that the estimate carries “considerable” uncertainty. If the estimate is close, low operating costs and the ability to keep trying could increase the volume of activity defenders must review. But cost is only one part of the calculation: the reporting does not establish the attacker’s total expenses, profits, or the value of any access obtained.
The company responses also point to a practical concern for organizations: exposure may involve a support site or third-party website, not only a company’s main services. The available reporting does not show that every affected company had sensitive information taken. It does show why organizations may need visibility into vendor-run sites and unattended web assets, as well as a way to distinguish meaningful alerts from a large stream of automated activity.
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How Cairn Panels Revealed Activity
The investigation followed a separate report by Gambit Security in September. Gambit said it recovered a criminal staging server containing three AI agent frameworks, including Cairn. The frameworks let models carry out multi-step tasks. NorForge then searched for exposed Cairn dashboards, some of which had no password protection, and began tracking panels it associated with suspected malicious activity around October 2.
Cairn is an open-source, general-purpose agent platform, not a hacking tool by design. Its shared workspace lets agents record findings and next steps so other agents can build on them. Reuters reported that the platform’s author, who uses the name le1xia0, said Cairn was not designed for hacking and that harmful use was not the author’s intention. The reporting does not identify the person operating the campaign or establish that the platform’s author was involved.
The separate Gambit investigation should not be conflated with the campaign Reuters and NorForge described. Gambit reported a different agent-driven operation that compromised at least 27 companies and took at least 600,000 payment-card records from two of them. That finding provides related context, but it is not evidence that the same operator or activity was involved in the later campaign.
““Necessary remediation actions” were taken, and the company had “no indication that sensitive information was accessed.””
— Deere, in a statement to Reuters
Data Access and Operator Identity
The operator’s identity has not been established. The source material describes the person as a Chinese-speaking actor; it reports no arrest or charge. That description does not, by itself, establish the operator’s nationality, location, or affiliation.
It is also unclear what information, if any, was accessed or taken from the affected websites. Deere said it had no indication of sensitive information access, but Reuters could not determine the broader amount of data involved. The record counts and cost figures are attributed to NorForge and Reuters’ review of attacker activity; NorForge explicitly cautioned that its cost estimate is considerably uncertain. The available reporting does not establish the campaign’s financial proceeds or whether every reported compromise led to lasting access.
Investigations and Exposure Reviews
The affected companies’ investigations and remediation will determine whether additional information emerges about the websites involved, access gained, or possible data exposure. Cummins said its investigation was ongoing; the source material does not give a completion date or report a later finding. Deere and SharkNinja described actions taken, but Reuters’ reporting did not settle the full scope of the incidents.
For security teams, the findings put exposed agent dashboards and less-visible web properties on the review list. NorForge’s discovery of accessible Cairn panels shows how researchers could observe activity when control interfaces were left open. The reports do not provide a definitive count of all affected organizations or establish whether the campaign is still active. Further company disclosures, investigation results, or reporting would be needed to clarify those points.
Key Questions
What happened in the reported campaign?
Reuters reported that an unidentified Chinese-speaking operator used Cairn-coordinated AI agents to target more than 1,200 websites from late September into mid-October. Reuters identified break-ins at websites of more than 100 companies based on its review of the operator’s activity records.
Who was behind the operation?
The operator has not been identified. The reporting describes a Chinese-speaking actor, but does not establish the person’s identity, nationality, location, or affiliation. No arrest or charge is reported in the source material.
Was company data stolen?
That remains unclear. Reuters could not establish how much data, if any, was taken. Deere said it had no indication sensitive information was accessed; SharkNinja and Cummins also provided updates about affected sites and their response.
Is Cairn itself a hacking tool?
Cairn is described as a general-purpose, open-source agent platform for coordinating multi-step tasks. Its author said it was not designed for hacking. The reporting concerns how an operator used the platform, not evidence that its author participated in the campaign.
How much did the campaign cost?
NorForge estimated roughly $5,000 in AI costs for the campaign, or about $50 per successful intrusion. The firm described the estimate as considerably uncertain, and the reporting does not establish the operator’s full costs or financial gains.
Source: ThorstenMeyerAI.com
