Arya News - AI agents, which autonomously handle various tasks such as online shopping and answering questions, have also been used for operations such as assessing website vulnerabilities and information gathering in the security field.
TOKYO – A Chinese-language AI agent that assess system vulnerabilities may have been exploited in some of the recent cyberattacks on Japanese companies and organizations that resulted in massive data breaches, a Japanese information security firm said Monday. The AI agent may have been used in attacks on at least 80 of the entities.
AI agents, which autonomously handle various tasks such as online shopping and answering questions, have also been used for operations such as assessing website vulnerabilities and information gathering in the security field.
Tokyo-based firm GMO Cybersecurity by Ierae, Inc. investigated the attacks in collaboration with an external organization at the request of Japanese companies that had been affected by the attacks. It then identified six overseas public servers used in the attacks between Sept. 18 and Oct. 18.
Analysis of the six servers revealed that Chinese-language AI agent Artex was used on all of them.
Since there were no signs that other AI agents were used in the attacks, the security firm believes it is highly likely that Artex was used in the attacks on about 80 insurance, finance, logistics and other firms. Eight of them reportedly have announced that they suffered data breaches.
Artex was made publicly available in July by a Chinese-speaking developer on an online technical information-sharing service. Artex is known for its high capability to comprehensively explore system vulnerabilities.
According to major U.S. cybersecurity company CrowdStrike, Artex was also used in a series of cyberattacks on multiple financial institutions in South Korea that occurred in September and October. On Oct. 8, the developer of Artex announced that it had removed the tool from the service after confirming it was being exploited in cyberattacks. The developer claimed the AI agent was designed to help companies and organizations improve their security.
Daiki Fukumori of GMO, who investigated the case, said: “The affected companies had their minor system weaknesses targeted. Companies should conduct a thorough review to ensure there are no overlooked vulnerabilities in their systems.”
The Japan Computer Emergency Response Team Coordination Center, known as JPCERT/CC, which provides support for dealing with cyberattacks, also said that it has confirmed signs of AI agents being used in cyberattacks against Japanese companies.