GoKawiil
Tech News
Hackers targeted major South Korean banks using an open-source AI security agent to assist in breaching the financial institutions' systems. The incident marks a notable instance of AI tools being incorporated into a real-world attack on banking infrastructure.
Several major South Korean banks, including Hana Bank, KB Kookmin Bank, and Shinhan Bank, are under investigation following cyberattacks that used AI agents to breach their systems. Personal information of around 25,000 Shinhan customers and dozens of employees from Kookmin Bank and Hana Bank have been leaked. Authorities and President Lee Jae Myung have expressed concern over the use of AI in these attacks, which appear to be part of a growing trend of autonomous cyber threats targeting financial institutions.
Analysis of existing AI capabilities finds that today's models, not some future superintelligence, are already lowering barriers to fraud, cyberattacks, manipulation campaigns, and weapons development. The concern centers on present-day misuse rather than speculative future risks like AI takeover scenarios.
A new study by Consumer Reports, Aspen Digital and the Global Cyber Alliance found that roughly 90% of US adults have experienced at least one digital scam or cyberattack. Confidence in the safety of personal data has dropped sharply, with those saying they have no confidence at all in protections for data like Social Security numbers nearly doubling from 16% in 2025 to 29% now, while those expressing confidence fell from 48% to 32%.
A security industry report highlights that attackers are increasingly using AI tools to identify and exploit vulnerabilities within minutes. The report argues most security teams remain organized around slower, manual response processes that cannot match this accelerated attack pace.
OpenAI is said to be preparing to announce a new model called GPT-6 Cyber within days, according to a report. The move follows recent incidents of autonomous cyber attacks traced back to frontier AI labs.
Spain's Data Protection Agency (AEPD) has received its first notification of a breach allegedly executed by an autonomous AI agent built on a large language model. According to the report, the agent found system vulnerabilities, logged in, probed connected applications, then altered personal data and accessed financial records. The AEPD has not yet verified the claims but says the case demonstrates that AI-driven breaches have moved from theory to practice.
Microsoft has issued a code of conduct for its AI models that sets absolute limits on behavior, including bans on cyberattacks, nuclear weapons assistance and deepfake creation. The document also requires models to remain controllable by authorized humans at all times, prohibiting tactics like deception or collusion that could let an AI evade oversight or shutdown.
Anthropic co-founder Dario Amodei argues that AI could deliver enormous benefits like curing diseases and boosting economic growth, but warns the technology also carries serious risks including loss of control, cyberattacks, and bioterrorism. He describes Anthropic's approach as seeking a middle path that avoids both underdevelopment and reckless speed, aiming to make safety a competitive advantage rather than an afterthought.
Public concern over artificial intelligence has escalated sharply, with fears ranging from existential risk to AI-enabled cyberattacks now surfacing in everyday workplace conversations and family discussions. What was once a niche worry among researchers and technologists has become a mainstream source of unease across American society.
Google, OpenAI and more than 100 other companies signed a joint letter warning that AI-powered cyberattacks are set to grow more common in the near future. The letter calls on governments and industry to take stronger action to prepare for and counter this rising threat.
The Justice Department announced it has seized domains used by a Chinese state-linked botnet known as QTFY, run by Nanjing Xinjiuwei Network Tech, disrupting its command-and-control infrastructure. The botnet reportedly enabled hackers tied to China's Ministry of State Security to infiltrate U.S. government and private-sector networks, including NASA, the Federal Reserve, several federal departments, and, as recently as this year, the Senate. Lumen, a network provider that assisted the FBI, said it had tracked the group profiling government, defense, and aerospace targets for roughly a year before the takedown.