---
title: "Researcher says one hacker used AI agents to break into more than 100 company websites for about $5,000"
url: https://anawords.com/story/hacker-ai-agents-breached-100-company-websites-norforge
published: 2026-10-20T12:01:16+05:30
updated: 2026-10-20T12:01:16+05:30
section: Safety & Trust
author: Mayank Sahu
checked: sources checked by AI, approved by editor
version: 1
---

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

NorForge found the campaign through control panels left open online of an open-source agent tool. Deere, SharkNinja and Cummins responded to Reuters; how much data was taken is not known.

**In short:** A single Chinese-speaking hacker used AI agents to break into the websites of more than 100 companies, spending about $5,000 on AI tokens, according to NorForge researcher Snorre Fagerland, whose findings Reuters reported on 19 October 2026. The agents targeted more than 1,200 sites.

## What the researcher found

Snorre Fagerland, principal threat researcher at the security firm NorForge, found the campaign by scanning the web for control panels accidentally left open online of Cairn, an open-source platform that runs teams of AI agents, Reuters reported.[^1][^2] From about 2 October he found roughly two dozen panels being used for malicious work.[^1]

The main operator, who wrote in Chinese, broke into more than 100 company websites, and the agents targeted more than 1,200 sites, according to Reuters.[^1][^2] The campaign began on 25 September, aimed at e-commerce sites in the US, Canada, Australia and Japan.[^1] The operator’s instructions were short, under 100 Chinese characters, and the agents did most of the work.[^1]

## The cost

Fagerland estimates the hacker spent about $5,000 on AI tokens, roughly $50 per successful break-in.[^1][^2] NorForge’s report puts the average success rate at about 10% and says successful attacks took just under 23 hours.[^2] These are the researcher’s estimates.

## Which tools

Fagerland assessed that the campaign “appeared to be using” a mix of DeepSeek models and Anthropic’s Claude Code; TNW reports a worker labelled “claudecode_deepseek-v4.1-flash”, which NorForge says could mean Claude Code running a DeepSeek model.[^1][^2] Cairn’s author said the platform was not designed for hacking.[^1][^2]

## What the companies said

Reuters identified some victims itself.[^1] Deere said it took “necessary remediation actions” and saw no sign sensitive information was accessed. SharkNinja said a standalone product-support site was hit and the threat was contained. Cummins said it was investigating a possible attack on a site run by a vendor.[^1][^2] Reuters could not establish how much data, if any, was taken.[^1]

## Why it matters

Security researchers have warned that agents lower the cost of attacks. This case gives one of the first detailed price tags. Basic defences, such as patching and keeping admin panels off the public internet, still matter most. See also our report on [CERT-In’s AI agent advisory](/story/cert-in-advisory-ai-agents-accessed-indian-firms-systems).

*Disclosure: Anawords uses Claude, made by Anthropic, as one of its research tools. Anthropic has no say in our coverage.*

## Fact ledger

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

## Sources

1. [Reuters (via Yahoo News): How one hacker used AI agents and a few thousand dollars to break into scores of sites](https://www.yahoo.com/news/us/articles/exclusive-one-hacker-used-ai-100625247.html)
2. [TNW: AI agents broke into 100+ sites for one hacker at $50 each, researcher says](https://thenextweb.com/news/ai-agents-hacker-cairn-100-sites-deere-norforge)