Bottom line: AI code agents enable attackers without technical expertise to conduct large-scale network compromises when they bypass security mechanisms by framing their actions as plausible red-team or research scenarios.
Security researchers from OALABS analyzed a cyberattack in which an actor with low technical skills used Anthropic’s Claude Code and OpenAI’s Codex to compromise at least 14 companies. The AI systems autonomously performed network reconnaissance, malware development, and data theft.
The analysis is based on over 1,000 session logs that the attacker left on a compromised server. A system administrator discovered the directory and forwarded the data to OALABS. The logs reveal that the actor copied the AI instances from software developers and reused them for his own attacks. Instead of controlling operations with precise technical commands, the attacker guided the operations through general, sometimes imprecise instructions—the AI agents took over the detailed planning and execution.
After successfully infiltrating the network, the AI systems automatically created reports and estimated the financial value of the stolen data. When the systems occasionally detected policy violations, the attacker bypassed these blocking mechanisms with simple framing: he claimed to be conducting authorized security tests as part of a red-team engagement or research projects. OALABS points out that AI models currently struggle to distinguish between legitimate security research and criminal activity, since both scenarios use identical technical terminology and methodology.
The attacker made several operational mistakes. He asked the AI agent to edit his resume—which contained his full real name, home address, education history, and LinkedIn profile. When diagnosing a potentially compromised personal computer, he accidentally transmitted his own IP address to the system. Based on these traces, the researchers located the actor as a young man in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. Whether the attacker was able to successfully monetize the stolen data remains unclear.
Source: www.it-daily.net · Published June 22, 2026
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