Palo Alto Networks’ Unit 42 tracked 25 AI-directed operations against at least 19 organizations in August and September 2026. Ten organizations experienced unauthorized access or data retrieval, including the production systems of a semiconductor company and more than one million member records at a US teachers’ union. The attackers used a customized version of Cairn, an open-source framework for AI-driven penetration testing, paired with the Zhipu GLM and DeepSeek models. Humans selected the targets and objectives, while automated agents planned and carried out intrusions lasting from 20 minutes to more than 50 hours. Researchers said that familiar security weaknesses enabled the campaign, making identity controls, attack-surface reduction and software patching central defenses.
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