South Korea believes AI agents were used to hack several banks

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South Korean officials believe AI agents were used in breaches at seven or more financial institutions, exposing personal data of at least 68,000 people, The Record reports. Officials believe a Chinese cybersecurity tool called Artex AI was used. Financial authorities have identified 33 IP addresses involved in the attacks, traced to at least 12 countries including Japan, the US, Thailand, Vietnam and Hong Kong. The Record calls it the first known case of AI agents hacking the financial sector

Hana Bank, KB Kookmin Bank and Shinhan Bank were among those hit. Shinhan reportedly said data on about 25,000 customers was exposed, including borrowing history, incomes, phone numbers and names. The incidents came to light on 30 September. The National Office of Investigation has set up a 28 person team to look into the attacks

President Lee Jae Myung said "Signs have emerged" that AI agents were used in at least some of the attacks. He warned that it is now possible to hack "with ease even without specialized skills." That is the worry security experts have raised for some time. AI agents could lower the skill needed to carry out serious attacks, putting powerful tools in the hands of far more people

The article links the case to Australian officials' claim last month that AI agents hacked a Medicare database, and to the Hugging Face incident involving OpenAI's models that we have discussed several times. Taken together, the stories suggest AI driven attacks are moving from theory to reality. Banks and other organisations will need defences that can keep up

Are AI powered cyberattacks the biggest new threat to banks? And what should ordinary customers do to protect themselves?

South Korean officials believe AI agents were used to hack several bankstherecord.media