Security researchers found hundreds of copies of Artex, a Chinese-made AI hacking tool, publicly accessible on the internet. The report does not say whether these deployments were set up by the people who run them or by others.
Artex is an open source autonomous penetration testing tool. It automatically probes computer systems for weaknesses. The report says it has been linked to several cyberattacks since its public release in July. Microsoft has described Artex as a system of AI agents that can conduct cyberattacks "from reconnaissance through data exfiltration with little needed human interaction."
Cybersecurity firm Censys said it identified more than 800 distinct Artex deployments that could be accessed from the web without a password. Silas Cutler, principal security researcher at Censys, said that not every instance is operated maliciously and that many are used by authorized testers. The report says it is unclear why so many Artex systems are exposed, since the software does not require internet access.
Security companies have tied Artex to several large attacks. CrowdStrike attributed attacks on the Korean finance industry in September to a Chinese-speaking hacker who used an Artex instance. CrowdStrike said the hacker left an "open directory" hosting the system. Censys said its data showed that instance