Hackers with suspected links to China used publicly available AI tools to carry out what researchers describe as the first observed end-to-end autonomous cyberattack against a government target, compromising at least 85 user accounts and stealing more than 2,500 personnel records from Taiwanese government systems, according to an August 12 Financial Times report, citing researchers at Israeli cybersecurity company Dream. The researchers say the attackers assembled an autonomous hacking platform using open-source AI-agent frameworks, enabling multiple agents to simultaneously map networks, research vulnerabilities, attempt intrusions, and adapt tactics when an attack path failed.
The campaign reportedly ran for four days at the beginning of July and at times deployed as many as eight autonomous agents in parallel. Dream said the system mapped 21 government systems before compromising user accounts and extracting personnel information. The attackers subsequently expanded their activity to Taiwan's nuclear safety agency, at least seven energy companies, government suppliers, and other government systems.
