SIMPLE SIGNS:
While the start-up that detected the attacks did not attribute them to a specific group, it said communications linked to the operation were in simplified Chinese
Staff writer, with CNA and Reuters
Overseas hackers used artificial intelligence (AI) agents to target government agencies in a cyberattack last month, the Ministry of Digital Affairs (MODA) said yesterday, following a Financial Times report on the incident.
The Administration for Cyber Security said in a statement that its cybersecurity monitoring unit detected the attacks last month and that the National Institute for Cyber Security began issuing alerts on July 20.
An investigation was launched immediately, and the source, methods and scope of the attacks have been determined, while affected agencies have completed their responses, it said.
Photo: AP
The ministry did not disclose where the attacks originated.
According to the Financial Times report, published on Wednesday, researchers at Israeli AI start-up Dream were the first to detect the intrusion, which allegedly used open-source AI agents to build an autonomous hacking tool.
It also cited a source familiar with the matter as saying that Taiwan was the target.
The tool compromised at least 85 government user accounts and extracted more than 2,500 personnel records before the attackers expanded their operations to Taiwan’s nuclear safety agency and at least seven energy companies, the UK-based news outlet reported.
Dream did not attribute the attack to a specific group, but researchers said that internal communications linked to the operation were in simplified Chinese, suggesting the operators were likely connected to China.
Meanwhile, the agency said the attacks showed clear signs of originating overseas and involved a hybrid approach combining conventional hacking with AI agents such as OpenClaw.
AI agents can rapidly combine multiple attack techniques and use secondary systems, such as backup and testing systems, as stepping stones, making attacks faster, cheaper and more scalable, it said.
MODA said the government has established guidelines to address emerging AI-related cybersecurity threats and would continue to bolster its overall defenses and monitoring for potential attack paths.
Chinese cyberattacks on Taiwan’s key infrastructure from hospitals to banks rose 6 percent last year from the previous year to an average of 2.63 million attacks a day, the National Security Bureau said in January, adding that some of the hacks were synchronized with military drills in “hybrid threats.”
The threat of AI-assisted hacking campaigns has been growing for years, but ramped up dramatically over the past few months after top AI labs released models, such as Anthropic’s Mythos, which can rapidly conduct reconnaissance, identify vulnerabilities and take advantage of them.
Cris Thomas, a researcher and security advocate at the cybersecurity company Semgrep, said the hacking campaign was an illustration of just how quickly AI-assisted hackers could hit their mark.
However, Thomas cautioned against exaggerating the power of AI agents.
“There’s still a human in there somewhere. Somebody had to choose who to attack, had to establish an objective and give it a directive. It’s not totally 100 percent autonomous. There was a capable operator in charge that did that,” he added.
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