China-linked Hackers Using AI Agents to Attack Taiwan Government Websites
Brief
Suspected China-linked attackers have carried out what researchers describe as the first fully autonomous cyberattack on a foreign government, using open-source artificial intelligence tools to breach Taiwanese government websites and critical infrastructure.
The operation, uncovered by Israeli AI and cyberdefense firm Dream, marks a sharp escalation in how artificial intelligence is reshaping cyber warfare and demonstrates that machine-driven intrusion can now operate with the coordination once reserved for human hacking teams.
According to findings reported by the Financial Times and detailed by Dream, the attackers assembled an autonomous hacking platform from publicly available AI agent frameworks known as Hermes and OpenClaw.
Over four days in early July, the system deployed as many as eight agents at once.