Research noteResearched 20 Oct 2026 · published 20 Oct 2026, 11:51 IST

Research note: Researcher says one hacker used AI agents to break into more than 100 company websites for about $5,000

How we checked the NorForge findings, the company responses and which numbers are estimates.

Research led by Mayank Sahu

Compiled with AI assistance (Claude by Anthropic)

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At a glance

3searches run

3sources read

2sources used

7facts labelled

Strongevidence strength · 5 of 6 facts (83%)

How we rate evidence: Most facts come from official sources or two or more independent outlets. We count the share of known facts labelled Confirmed or Reported: 70% or more is Strong, 40–69% Mixed, below 40% Limited.

From sources to story

How many sources we read, how many we used, and how many are official or archived.

Read3Every source we opened

Used2Relied on for the story

Cited2Linked in the story

Official0From the company or a public body

Archived2Saved on the Internet Archive

How sure we are, fact by fact

511

Reported · 5 — Two or more independent, named outlets say it.
Unconfirmed · 1 — One report only, shown with its source.
Not known · 1 — Not announced or not answered yet.

Evidence map

Each row is a fact from the story; each column is a source. A filled dot means that source supports the fact.

Fact	Label	1OUT	2OUT
A Chinese-speaking hacker used AI agents to breach more than 100 company websites, per NorForge’s researcher.	Reported
The agents targeted more than 1,200 sites.	Reported
The researcher estimates about $5,000 in tokens, roughly $50 per successful hack.	Reported
Deere, SharkNinja and Cummins responded; Deere saw no sign sensitive data was accessed.	Reported
The campaign appeared to use DeepSeek models and Claude Code, per the researcher.	Reported
Average success rate of about 10%.	Unconfirmed
How much data was taken.	Not known

Question

What we set out to check

How many sites were breached, what it cost, which tools were involved, and what the named companies said.

Findings

What we found

Reuters and TNW agree on more than 100 companies breached and more than 1,200 sites targeted.
Both give the researcher’s estimate of about $5,000 in tokens and roughly $50 per success.
Both carry the same company responses from Deere, SharkNinja and Cummins.

Discrepancies

Numbers that differ

Reuters gives the cost per successful hack; TNW adds about $5 per task including failures and a 10% success rate from NorForge’s report. These fit together but come from different parts of the research.

Method

Labels we chose and why

Reported for the main figures and responses, carried by both outlets.
Unconfirmed for the success rate, seen only in TNW.
We describe the tool attribution as the researcher’s assessment, not a confirmed fact.

Open questions

What we could not verify

NorForge’s full report, which we did not open directly.
How much data was taken.

Can you help confirm one of these? Send us a source. When we find an answer, we update this note and the story, with the date.

Next steps

How we could improve this

Read NorForge’s report itself and ask Anthropic and DeepSeek whether they found the related accounts.

Research timeline

Research20 Oct 2026
Research note published20 Oct 2026, 11:51 IST
Story published20 Oct 2026, 12:01 IST

What we searched

hacker used AI agents broke into 100 companies websites Reuters
NorForge Cairn AI agents hacking
Fagerland AI agents $5,000 tokens

Every source we read

Source	Used?	Why
Reuters via Yahoo News Archived copy	USED	Original exclusive with company responses.
TNW Archived copy	USED	Adds figures from NorForge’s report.
Quartz	NOT USED	Summary of Reuters.

Sources cited in the story

Research notes show our working. They are not peer-reviewed papers. Data: facts as JSON · How we report