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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 probed more than 1,200 websites and was linked by Reuters to breaches at more than 100 companies. NorForge estimated the campaign’s AI costs at about $5,000, or roughly $50 per successful intrusion, while the amount of data accessed remains unknown.
A Chinese-speaking operator used a swarm of AI agents to probe online shops in a campaign that reached more than 1,200 websites and was linked by Reuters to breaches at websites of more than 100 companies. The agents were coordinated through Cairn, a free, open-source platform; NorForge estimated the campaign’s AI costs at about $5,000, but the amount of data accessed has not been established.
The campaign began around September 25 and targeted sites in the United States, Canada, Australia and Japan, according to Reuters and NorForge. Reuters identified affected company websites by reviewing activity recorded in the operator’s Cairn panels and contacting companies. Those records showed attempts against more than 1,200 sites by mid-October; Reuters counted breaches at more than 100 companies.
Among the companies named by Reuters were Deere, SharkNinja and Cummins. Deere said 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 cyberattack on a website operated by a third-party vendor.
NorForge researcher Snorre Fagerland found exposed Cairn control panels while searching internet-indexed servers. NorForge linked more than 20 panels to likely malicious activity and grouped them into three clusters. Its report, published October 19, counted more than 1,100 attack projects across 14 panels in the largest cluster. NorForge measured successful projects as taking a little under 23 hours on average and estimated roughly $5,000 in AI costs for the campaign, or about $50 per successful intrusion. The firm cautioned that the estimate carries “considerable” uncertainty.
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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Lower Costs, More Targets
The reported campaign points to a change in the economics of persistent probing: an operator can assign repeated research and testing to software agents rather than personally carrying out each step. NorForge’s cost estimate is not a verified accounting of the operator’s spending, but it suggests that the direct AI expense may be modest compared with the work required to probe many sites over extended periods.
For companies, the incidents underscore that a breach may involve a support site or third-party vendor website, not only a main corporate system. These less prominent systems can still connect to customers, services or business infrastructure. The reports also raise a practical monitoring challenge: automated activity can produce many findings for security teams to triage, while operators can run multiple tasks in parallel.
The evidence does not show that AI agents independently chose the targets or operated without human direction. It does show, according to NorForge’s analysis, that Cairn coordinated steps across agents using shared information and task instructions. The distinction matters: the reported development is the use of agent software as part of an intrusion campaign, not proof that a fully autonomous system conducted attacks without an operator.
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How Researchers Traced Cairn
The reporting followed a September investigation by Gambit Security, which recovered a criminal staging server and found three agent frameworks, including Cairn. NorForge then searched for exposed dashboards associated with the platform. The firm said most Cairn panels require authorization, but it found some without passwords and observed activity through them.
NorForge published its analysis on October 19, the same day Reuters reported its investigation. NorForge’s report described activity clusters but did not name victims. Reuters said it independently reviewed activity in the panels to identify companies and contact them; two smaller businesses acknowledged being compromised, while some other companies did not respond.
Cairn’s developer, who uses the name le1xia0, told Reuters the platform was not designed for hacking and that harmful use was not the developer’s intention. Cairn is described by NorForge as a general-purpose, state-based problem-solving engine. Its use in this campaign does not by itself establish that the platform was built for cybercrime.
““Necessary remediation actions” were taken, and the company had “no indication that sensitive information was accessed.””
— Deere, in a statement to Reuters
Data Access Still Unknown
Reuters could not establish how much data, if any, was taken from the affected company websites. Deere said it had no indication of sensitive information being accessed; that statement does not establish what happened at other victims’ sites. SharkNinja said the threat was contained, while Cummins described its investigation as ongoing.
The identity of the operator has not been established. The source reporting describes the actor as Chinese-speaking; it does not identify a person, confirm a location or report an arrest or charge. NorForge’s estimated AI costs are also not a confirmed bill or full measure of the campaign’s expenses. The available reporting does not establish whether the intrusions led to later sale, misuse or monetization of access.
Company Investigations Continue
Companies named in the reporting may provide further details as they complete investigations, particularly about the systems affected, whether information was accessed and what remediation followed. Cummins has said it is investigating the vendor-operated website. The reporting available on October 30 does not provide a shared accounting of the impact across all identified companies.
For security researchers, exposed Cairn panels and similar agent-control dashboards remain a focus because they can reveal activity and task records. NorForge’s findings offer a view into how the campaign was coordinated, but the number of panels or projects does not establish the full scope of breaches. Further reporting would be needed to confirm victim counts, data impact and whether access was used beyond the initial intrusions.
Key Questions
What happened in the campaign?
A Chinese-speaking operator used AI agents coordinated through Cairn to probe online shops. Reuters reported attempts against more than 1,200 sites and identified breaches at websites of more than 100 companies.
How much did the AI activity cost?
NorForge estimated about $5,000 in AI costs for the campaign, or roughly $50 per successful intrusion. The firm said the estimate had considerable uncertainty; it is not a confirmed accounting of total costs.
Was customer or company data stolen?
That remains unclear across the reported victims. Reuters could not establish how much data, if any, was taken. Deere said it had no indication that sensitive information was accessed, while company statements do not resolve the impact at other sites.
Who was behind the campaign?
The operator’s identity has not been established. Reporting describes the actor as Chinese-speaking, but does not name a person or confirm a location. No arrest or charge is reported in the source material.
Was Cairn built as a hacking tool?
NorForge describes Cairn as a general-purpose agent coordination platform. Its developer told Reuters it was not designed for hacking attacks and said harmful use was not the developer’s intention. The platform’s reported use in this campaign does not establish its intended purpose as cybercrime.
Source: ThorstenMeyerAI.com
