Hackers now use AI agents to break into websites: how small businesses stay safe

Security researchers at NorForge discovered roughly two dozen exposed control panels for Cairn, an open-source AI penetration-testing tool, being used maliciously by a criminal group they designate AIA0001, which ran 14 panels tied to over 1,100 attack projects against e-commerce and payment sites in the US, Japan, Australia and Canada. The agents attempted more than 1,200 sites and reached websites belonging to over 100 companies, including John Deere, SharkNinja and Cummins, exploiting familiar flaws such as SQL injection, unsafe file uploads and outdated frameworks at roughly $5 per attempt. NorForge's Snorre Fagerland also found hundreds of credentials in the exposed panel data, about 11% still valid, and the affected companies said damage was limited and contained.

For years, small businesses told themselves the same thing: "Hackers go after big companies. Nobody's going to bother with my website." In October 2026 that excuse ran out. Researchers watched a single criminal point autonomous AI agents at online shops and let them break in with almost no human help. The agents tried more than 1,200 sites and reached websites belonging to more than 100 companies , including John Deere, SharkNinja and Cummins. Security researcher Snorre Fagerland of NorForge was scanning the internet for exposed copies of Cairn , an open-source AI tool built for legitimate, authorised penetration testing. From early October he found around two dozen Cairn control panels being used maliciously, left open on the internet. That let him watch the attacks happen in real time. The busiest group, which NorForge calls AIA0001 , ran 14 panels linked to more than 1,100 attack projects, targeting shops and payment systems in the US, Japan, Australia and Canada. Its goal appeared to be lasting access to e-commerce and payment infrastructure. NorForge confirmed at least one live web shell on a commercial website, and Reuters identified several victims from the attacker's own records. The affected companies said the damage was limited: Deere fixed the problem and saw no sign sensitive data was accessed, SharkNinja said a standalone product-support site was hit and contained, and Cummins was investigating a vendor-run website. Two smaller businesses also confirmed they were compromised. The attackers didn't use new magic. They used familiar weaknesses : SQL injection, unsafe file uploads, insecure deserialization, authentication bypasses and outdated framework code. What changed is the economics . As Detectify's CEO put it, AI is changing the economics of cyberattacks more than the techniques. When one attempt costs around five dollars and an agent will keep trying for hours without getting bored, attackers can afford to go after sites that were never "worth the effort" before. That includes your shop, your clinic's booking site and your restaurant's ordering page. | Before | Now | |---|---| | A human tests sites one by one | Agents run hundreds of projects in parallel | | Skips small sites: not worth the time | Every site is worth ~$5 to try | | Gives up after a few failed tries | Keeps going for ~23 hours on average | | Works office hours | Works 24/7, with little supervision | There was a second lesson. The exposed panels showed which sites were attacked, what weaknesses were found and which passwords and API keys were collected. NorForge ran a secrets scanner over the data and found hundreds of secrets, 11% still valid . It also found legitimate security firms that had left real client tests on unsecured panels. If you hire someone to test your site, ask how they protect the results. AI hasn't made hackers smarter. It has made them tireless and cheap. The good news: the same basics still work. Sites that are patched, firewalled and monitored are far harder for an agent to crack, and most agents will move on to an easier target. Want to know how your site would hold up? Run my free website audit https://inshaalshahid.com/tools/website-audit/ , or send me the link https://inshaalshahid.com/ contact and I'll check updates, uploads, logins and firewall settings and fix what's weak. Originally published on my blog https://inshaalshahid.com/blog/ai-agents-hacking-websites-small-business-security/ . Sources: The Hacker News https://thehackernews.com/2026/10/hackers-use-autonomous-ai-agents-to.html , Dark Reading https://www.darkreading.com/cyberattacks-data-breaches/hackers-abuse-ai-pen-test-tool-cairn , NorForge https://norforge.com/blog/inside cairn , Reuters https://www.reuters.com/legal/government/how-one-hacker-used-ai-agents-few-thousand-dollars-break-into-scores-sites-2026-10-19/