Israeli AI Firm Says Chinese-linked Hackers Used Open-source Agents in Taiwan Cyberattack

The National Institute of Cyber Security issued a series of warning alerts while it investigated the intrusion. The Financial Times quoted Dream, an Israeli AI company that detected the intrusion, as saying the attackers used open-source AI agents to build an autonomous hacking tool that behaved like a coordinated cyber team. Dream reported that the tool compromised at least 85 government user accounts, extracting more than 2,500 personnel records before expanding the attack to Taiwan's nuclear safety agency and at least seven energy companies.

Taiwanese officials did not direct accusations at China, but the FT reported that Chinese-linked hackers were suspected. Dream did not attribute the attack to a specific group but said the use of Simplified Chinese in internal communications linked to the hack meant there was a high probability the operator was connected to China, according to the FT. Taiwan has in recent years complained about what it sees as China's hybrid warfare, from daily military drills near the island to disinformation campaigns and cyber-attacks, as Beijing ramps up military and political pressure on the democratically governed island.