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TL;DR
A Reuters investigation, drawing on exposed Cairn control panels and research by NorForge, says an AI-agent campaign tried more than 1,200 websites and broke into sites belonging to more than 100 companies. NorForge estimates the campaign’s AI costs at about $5,000, but says that figure is highly uncertain; the amount of data accessed or taken has not been established.
An unidentified Chinese-speaking operator used the open-source Cairn platform to direct AI agents at online shops, probing more than 1,200 websites and breaking into sites belonging to more than 100 companies, according to an October 19 Reuters investigation based on the attackers’ records. The campaign included websites associated with Deere, SharkNinja and Cummins; how much data, if any, was taken remains unknown.
The activity began around September 25 and targeted businesses in the United States, Canada, Australia and Japan. Security firm NorForge found exposed Cairn control panels and tracked what it described as three clusters of potentially malicious activity. Reuters reported that the largest cluster’s records showed more than 1,100 attack projects across 14 panels. Those project counts are not the same as confirmed successful intrusions.
NorForge researcher Snorre Fagerland said successful projects in the largest cluster took a little under 23 hours on average to reach their goal. The firm estimated that the campaign’s AI usage cost roughly $5,000 in total, or about $50 per successful hack. NorForge cautioned that the estimate carried “considerable” uncertainty; it is not a verified accounting of the operator’s full costs.
Reuters identified companies by independently reviewing activity recorded in Cairn and contacting organizations. 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 cyber-attack on a website operated by one of our third-party vendors.”
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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How Automation Changes Attack Economics
The reported campaign illustrates how AI agents can automate repeated website probing, allowing one operator to leave software working across many targets for extended periods. NorForge’s estimate of about $50 per successful intrusion suggests the cost of automated activity may be low, but that figure is an uncertain estimate, not a measured industry-wide price.
For companies, the affected entry points matter as much as the headline count. A product-support page or a site run by a third-party vendor may have different owners and security processes from a company’s main website. The reports make a case for monitoring those sites and exposed administrative panels, while not establishing that every company faces the same level of risk.
Automation can also increase the volume of activity defenders must review. The campaign’s records show agents working through tasks over hours or days; they do not establish that the software independently made every decision or that a human operator had no oversight. The operational model is still a person setting direction while agents carry out portions of the work.
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From Exposed Cairn Panels to Victim Reports
The reporting followed a separate September investigation by Gambit Security, which described a criminal staging server containing three AI “harnesses”: Hermes, Strix and Cairn. Those programs allow AI models to carry out tasks through an agent framework. NorForge then searched for internet-exposed Cairn dashboards and identified more than 20 panels it linked to likely malicious activity. The firm published its report on October 19, the same day Reuters released its investigation.
Cairn is an open-source, general-purpose agent platform, rather than software described by NorForge as purpose-built for hacking. Its creator, who uses the name le1xia0, told Reuters that Cairn “was not designed for hacking attacks.” The platform’s author also said harmful use was not their intention. The existence of legitimate uses does not establish who operated the panels in this campaign.
Reuters said two smaller businesses acknowledged being compromised, while other contacted victims did not respond. A separate campaign reported by Gambit in September involved at least 27 companies; the firm said at least 600,000 card records were taken from two of them. That was a distinct operation, not evidence that payment-card data was stolen in the Cairn campaign described here.
““Most need authorization to access. Most.””
— NorForge report
Victim Impact and Operator Identity
The operator’s identity has not been established. The reporting describes the activity as associated with a Chinese-speaking actor, but that does not identify a person or prove their location. The source material reports no arrest or criminal charge.
It is also unclear what information was accessed or removed. Reuters could not determine how much data, if any, was taken. Deere said it had no indication that sensitive information was accessed; SharkNinja said the affected site was a standalone support page and that the threat was contained; Cummins said its investigation was ongoing. These company statements describe different situations and do not resolve the broader question of data loss.
NorForge’s estimates of campaign cost and success depend on records and assumptions about AI usage. The reports do not provide a complete accounting of the operator’s other expenses, the financial value of any access, or how many attempted projects led to confirmed intrusions.
Company Investigations and Security Reviews
Cummins said it was investigating a potential attack involving a third-party vendor’s website. Companies named in the reporting may provide further details as their reviews continue, though no timetable for additional findings was given. The amount of data affected, if any, may become clearer only through those investigations.
For security teams, the reports point to practical areas for review: internet-facing control panels, support websites and vendor-operated services. NorForge’s findings also leave open whether exposed dashboards remain accessible or whether additional Cairn panels are being used. The current reporting documents this campaign; it does not establish how often similar operations occur.
The next confirmed milestones are any updates from the affected companies and further reporting on the exposed panels or campaign records. Until then, the scale of attempted activity is better documented than its full impact.
Key Questions
What happened in the reported campaign?
Reuters reported that an unidentified Chinese-speaking operator used Cairn AI agents to probe more than 1,200 websites. Records reviewed by Reuters indicated break-ins at websites belonging to more than 100 companies.
Which companies were named?
The reporting named websites associated with Deere, SharkNinja and Cummins. Their statements differed: Deere reported remediation and no indication of sensitive data access, SharkNinja said a standalone support site was affected, and Cummins said it was investigating a potential attack involving a vendor-operated site.
How much did the AI activity cost?
NorForge estimated about $5,000 for the campaign, or roughly $50 per successful hack. The firm described the estimate as highly uncertain, so it should not be treated as a verified cost.
Was customer or payment data stolen?
That has not been established for this campaign. Reuters could not determine how much data, if any, was taken. A separate campaign reported by Gambit Security involved card records, but it was not the Cairn operation described in this report.
Who operated the agents?
The operator has not been publicly identified. The reporting describes a Chinese-speaking actor, but does not establish a person’s identity or confirm an arrest or charge.
Source: ThorstenMeyerAI.com
