Cybersecurity researchers have uncovered three attacks on Japanese organizations in which artificial intelligence played a central role - sometimes driving the operation, sometimes assisting a human. TrendAI, analyzing exposed server environments used by the threat actors, said the campaigns differ from earlier attacks that relied on the autonomous AI penetration-testing framework ARTEX against targets in South Korea and Japan.
The first attack abused CyberStrikeAI, an open-source penetration-testing tool previously used against Fortinet FortiGate appliances, in a burst of activity in October 2026. The platform automated the attack lifecycle - reconnaissance, vulnerability discovery and validation, exploitation, command-and-control, persistence, data exfiltration and reporting - by delegating work among 44 agents, and could generate fake login pages in Japanese. At least 19 identifiable organizations, including at least 16 in Japan, were subjected to validation activity, each with a report in the same format and an index of evidence.
The second case was human-led, with a large language model accelerating planning and tool development; the campaign also appeared designed to target AI workflow platforms and inference services to obtain inference capacity cheaply. One intrusion hit a geographic information system server protected by default credentials, stealing cadastral and commercial records, Windows credentials and email data over 24 days in August and September 2026. In the third case, AI was confined to developing the operator's tools and scripts, in campaigns against edge devices from Cisco, Citrix, F5 and Yamaha.
The operator behind the third case is estimated to have run at least six campaigns from January to October 2026, striking exposed VPN devices and WebLogic servers. Researchers said there is no evidence the three incidents share an operator, and it is unknown whether other regions were targeted or which AI models were used. The first case's operator also targeted organizations in Taiwan and Hong Kong; the third listed organizations in the U.K., France, Italy, Qatar and Colombia.
"AI has increased the attackers' workforce, but the work still consists of looking for unlocked doors," TrendAI said. "What has changed is the ability to try thousands at once, adapt to the target country's language, and continue without fatigue."
Source: The Hackers News