AI Agent Attacks Thai Ministry of Finance: New Cyber Threat

An AI agent has driven an espionage attack against Thailand's Ministry of Finance. Attackers used an autonomous open-source tool called Hermes, operating in an unrestricted "YOLO mode." This means the AI agent functioned without human approval to carry out parts of the cyber-espionage operation. Threat intelligence firm Hunt.io detailed the incident, noting the attack is unusual due to the autonomous AI agent's involvement. From July 9 to 13, Hunt.io identified three simultaneous open directories in Hong Kong, containing exploit code and custom scripts. The attack targeted the Ministry of Finance's Hadoop infrastructure using hardcoded credentials. This event shows attackers are increasingly using large language models for their operations. This trend means more sophisticated and autonomous cyber threats could be on the horizon.