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AI agents break into more than 100 company sites for about $5,000

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AT A GLANCE

An investigation by the company NorForge, reported by Reuters on 19 October: what happened and why it matters.

Photo of server racks in a data centre
Carl Lender from Sunrise, USA · CC BY 2.0
In this article

The essentials

A Chinese-speaking hacker handed most of the work to AI agents and broke into the sites of more than 100 companies, for about $5,000 in total.

How the case was discovered

Snorre Fagerland (NorForge) was investigating exposed instances of Cairn, an open-source platform where several AI agents collaborate. About two dozen of them were linked to malicious activity, which began around 2 October.

The method and the cost

The instructions fitted in fewer than 100 Chinese characters. The agents worked alone for hours to find flaws and attempt intrusions: faced with a company’s main application, they examined the related infrastructure, found an exposed administration interface and exploited a flaw allowing commands to be executed. More than 1,200 sites were targeted; each intrusion took about 23 hours, for about $50. According to reports, the hacker combined DeepSeek models and Anthropic’s Claude Code.

Companies’ reactions

Reuters cites Deere, SharkNinja and Cummins. Deere says it took measures and sees no sign of access to sensitive information; SharkNinja says an isolated product-support site was hit and contained; Cummins is investigating a possible attack via a contractor’s site. Reuters could not establish what data was taken.

Why it matters

According to ODSC, Gambit Security reported in September an agent-driven campaign affecting 25 companies and at least 600,000 stolen bank card numbers. The case illustrates that with AI agents, a few dollars and few people are enough to target many companies.

To keep in mind

The figures come from NorForge’s investigation, relayed by Reuters; the original article was not consulted.

LANGUAGE NOTES

Learn the grammar

Explained in English

French grammar

Learn sentence patterns and usage from the article’s own sentences.

01The present indicative
Structure

est / sont + attribute (noun, adjective, prepositional phrase)

In the article
Les dates d’annonce, des faits et de vérification sont distinctes.
Key points

Être in the present is est for a singular subject and sont for a plural one. It describes nature, state or place (“is”, “is located”). If what follows (the attribute) is a noun, adjective or prepositional phrase, it is not a passive. If a past participle follows, it is a passive (est annoncé). Headlines and summaries often use the present to describe the current situation.

02The passé composé
Structure

present of avoir + past participle

In the article
Un pirate de langue chinoise a confié l’essentiel du travail à des agents d’IA et pénétré les sites de plus de 100 entreprises, pour environ 5 000 dollars au total.
Key points

The passé composé is the most common past tense, used for “did” and “has done” — actions completed in the past. It is formed with the auxiliary avoir (a / ont…) in the present + a past participle. Past participles of -er verbs end in -é (annoncer → annoncé); learn the irregular ones (faire → fait, prendre → pris, voir → vu). In the negative, ne … pas wraps the auxiliary (n’a pas annoncé). In the news it reports facts that have already happened, such as “announced” or “voted”.

03The passé composé of pronominal verbs
Structure

se + present of être + past participle

In the article
Une enquête de la société NorForge, rapportée par Reuters le 19 octobre : ce qui s’est passé et pourquoi cela compte.
Key points

The passé composé of a pronominal verb (se + verb) always uses être as auxiliary (il s’est diffusé / elles se sont réunies). Se changes with the subject: me, te, se, nous, vous. The past participle usually agrees with the subject in gender and number.

04The imparfait
Structure

stem (nous form of the present) + -ais / -ait / -ions / -iez / -aient

In the article
Snorre Fagerland (NorForge) enquêtait sur des instances exposées de Cairn, une plateforme open source où plusieurs agents d’IA collaborent.
Key points

The imparfait describes states, background, habits and actions in progress in the past (il était, elle avait, ils pensaient). Take the nous form of the present, drop -ons, and add -ais / -ais / -ait / -ions / -iez / -aient. If the passé composé gives “the event itself”, the imparfait paints “the situation at the time”.

05The passive voice in the present
Structure

être (est / sont) + past participle (+ par / de)

In the article
Environ deux douzaines d’entre elles étaient liées à une activité malveillante, qui a commencé vers le 2 octobre.
Key points

The passive means “is done” or “is being done”. It is formed with être + past participle, which agrees with the subject in gender and number (la mesure est adoptée / les mesures sont adoptées). The agent is introduced by par (or de). In the news it is common when the event, rather than the actor, is the focus (est prévu / est annoncé / est connu).

06The passive in the passé composé
Structure

a / ont été + past participle

In the article
Plus de 1 200 sites ont été visés ; chaque intrusion a pris environ 23 heures, pour environ 50 dollars.
Key points

The past passive means “was done”. Its form is present of avoir + été (past participle of être) + past participle. Été does not change, but the last participle agrees with the subject in gender and number (la loi a été votée / les textes ont été votés). It is frequent in news reporting results such as votes, decisions and announcements.

07Negation and its scope
Structure

ne / n’ … pas · ne … plus

In the article
Reuters n’a pas pu établir quelles données ont été prises.
Key points

Normally ne and pas wrap the verb. Before a vowel, ne becomes n’. Check which part of the sentence the negation covers. Ne … plus means “no longer”.

08Citing a source with selon
Structure

selon + noun / organisation

In the article
Selon les comptes rendus, le pirate a combiné des modèles DeepSeek et Claude Code d’Anthropic.
Key points

Selon means “according to”. Put a person or organisation after it as the source. It separates facts the writer checked directly from what another body or report said. Citing a source does not turn a forecast into an accomplished fact.

09Purpose with pour
Structure

pour + infinitive

In the article
Les agents ont travaillé seuls pendant des heures pour trouver des failles et tenter des intrusions : face à l’application principale d’une entreprise, ils ont examiné l’infrastructure connexe, trouvé une interface d’administration exposée et exploité une faille permettant d’exécuter des commandes.
Key points

This is the purpose, “in order to…”. Put the base form of a verb after pour. The purpose stated here is separate from whether the effect was actually achieved.

10The subject relative pronoun qui
Structure

noun + qui + verb

In the article
Environ deux douzaines d’entre elles étaient liées à une activité malveillante, qui a commencé vers le 2 octobre.
Key points

Qui continues a description of the person or thing just mentioned (“the one that does…”). Because qui is itself the subject of the next verb, do not repeat the subject. The verb agrees with the noun qui refers to.

11Dates and their prepositions
Structure

le + 日付 / du … au …

In the article
Une enquête de la société NorForge, rapportée par Reuters le 19 octobre : ce qui s’est passé et pourquoi cela compte.
Key points

Le 15 octobre means “on 15 October”. Distinguish the le before a date from the le that marks a weekly habit like a weekday. Du is de + le and au is à + le, so decide the meaning from the verb and period expressions around them. Their role depends on the group: a range of dates, the date of a bulletin or another complement.

Explained in English

Japanese grammar

Understand the structure and usage from the text.

01Citing a source: によると
Structure

noun + によると

In the article
ODSCの記事によると、9月にも、Gambit Securityが、AIエージェントによる攻撃で25社が被害を受け、少なくとも60万件のクレジットカード情報が盗まれたと報告しています。
Key points

As in “LCPによると”, it shows where the information comes from. What that source reported follows. It is used differently from “私にとって”, which gives one’s own opinion.

02Expressing a possibility
Structure

〜可能性がある / 〜かもしれない

In the article
カミンズは、外部の業者のサイトが関係する可能性のある攻撃を、調べています。
Key points

These forms say something may happen. Even when “possibility” is written, it does not mean it will certainly happen. Check whose forecast it is, plus the time and conditions.

03Cause or purpose with ため
Structure

〜ため / 〜ために

In the article
Cairnは、複数のAIが協力して問題を解くためのものです。
Key points

ため is used for both reason and purpose. “成立ではないため” is a reason and “運転手を守るため” a purpose. Decide from the whole sentence whether what precedes is a cause or a goal.

04The polite past ました
Structure

verb stem (連用形) + ました

In the article
中国語を使う攻撃者が、AIエージェントにほとんどの作業を任せて、100社を超える企業のサイトに侵入しました。
Key points

In “発表しました”, ました makes a verb polite past. The negative is “ませんでした”. Read the actual date together with the date and time in the text.

05Quoting with と: content and report
Structure

plain-form sentence + と + verbe de parole (報じる, 説明する…)

In the article
報道では、DeepSeekのモデルと、Anthropicの「Claude Code」を組み合わせたとされています。
Key points

と takes the content that is reported or explained. In “改定する方針だと報じました”, “改定する方針だ” is what the report said. Separating the content from who said it and how makes long sentences easier to read.

06Treating a clause like a noun with こと
Structure

plain-form sentence + こと + particle

In the article
AIエージェントを使えば、少ない費用と人手で、多くの会社を狙えることを示す例として、注目されています。
Key points

“〜すること” treats an action or content like a noun. The particle after it (が・を・は…) shows its role in the sentence. “ことができる” is a fixed combination meaning “can”.

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