{"slug": "chinese-hacker-used-deepseek-to-launch-autonomous-cyberattacks-on-vulnerable", "title": "Chinese hacker used DeepSeek to launch autonomous cyberattacks on vulnerable servers", "summary": "Chinese threat actor 'knaithe' and 'KnYuan' used DeepSeek and other large language models to automate cyberattacks against internet-facing systems, according to researchers at Palo Alto Networks' Unit 42. The operation was exposed after the actor's AI agent misconfigured a file server, revealing the full tool set and targeting methods.", "body_md": "A Chinese threat actor operating under the aliases “knaithe” and “KnYuan” used multiple LLMs to automate cyberattacks against internet-facing systems with limited human intervention. Researchers at Palo Alto Networks’ Unit 42 uncovered the operation after the threat actor’s AI agent misconfigured a file server, inadvertently exposing the entire infrastructure. “This visibility enabled us to understand their full tool set, how the attackers orchestrated multiple AI platforms and gave us a peek into their targeting,” Unit … [More ](https://www.helpnetsecurity.com/2026/08/03/deepseek-ai-autonomous-cyberattacks-hermes-agent/)\n\nThe post [Chinese hacker used DeepSeek to launch autonomous cyberattacks on vulnerable servers](https://www.helpnetsecurity.com/2026/08/03/deepseek-ai-autonomous-cyberattacks-hermes-agent/) appeared first on [Help Net Security](https://www.helpnetsecurity.com).", "url": "https://wpnews.pro/news/chinese-hacker-used-deepseek-to-launch-autonomous-cyberattacks-on-vulnerable", "canonical_source": "https://www.helpnetsecurity.com/2026/08/03/deepseek-ai-autonomous-cyberattacks-hermes-agent/", "published_at": "2026-08-03 13:51:57+00:00", "updated_at": "2026-08-03 13:55:04.933893+00:00", "lang": "en", "topics": ["artificial-intelligence", "ai-agents", "ai-safety"], "entities": ["Palo Alto Networks", "Unit 42", "DeepSeek", "knaithe", "KnYuan"], "alternates": {"html": "https://wpnews.pro/news/chinese-hacker-used-deepseek-to-launch-autonomous-cyberattacks-on-vulnerable", "markdown": "https://wpnews.pro/news/chinese-hacker-used-deepseek-to-launch-autonomous-cyberattacks-on-vulnerable.md", "text": "https://wpnews.pro/news/chinese-hacker-used-deepseek-to-launch-autonomous-cyberattacks-on-vulnerable.txt", "jsonld": "https://wpnews.pro/news/chinese-hacker-used-deepseek-to-launch-autonomous-cyberattacks-on-vulnerable.jsonld"}}