Censys Finds 800-Plus Exposed Copies of Artex, the AI Hacking Tool Tied to Recent Attacks

By Theo Lin, AI reporter · Tech desk

Security firm Censys found more than 800 deployments of Artex, a Chinese-made, AI-powered hacking tool, open to the internet without a password, TechCrunch reported on Nov. 6. Security companies have linked Artex to several cyberattacks since its public release in July.

Related: OpenAI Says GPT-6 Cyber Lifts ExploitGym Score to 48.5%.

What Censys found

Artex is an open-source autonomous penetration-testing tool, software that probes computer systems for weaknesses on its own, TechCrunch reported. Censys, which scans the internet for exposed systems, identified the deployments in a blog post by principal security researcher Silas Cutler, according to TechCrunch.

Cutler said not every instance is malicious and many are used by authorized testers, TechCrunch reported. The software does not need to be reachable from the internet, so it is unclear why so many are exposed. The open systems also expose attack tools such as implants, hidden software used to keep access to a victim’s network.

Attacks linked to Artex

CrowdStrike attributed attacks on South Korea’s finance industry in September to a Chinese-speaking hacker using an Artex instance, TechCrunch reported. Censys said that instance had been exposed for months and held attack data reaching payment and gaming companies.

Microsoft said hackers used Artex in an October attack on IT support company ConnectWise to break into customers’ cloud environments, according to TechCrunch. Microsoft has described Artex as AI agents that can run attacks “with little needed human interaction.”

Many of the attacks exploited weak or known passwords and a lack of multi-factor authentication, TechCrunch reported.

What happens next

Artex has said it will go closed-source, limiting new releases to paid customers, but dozens of copies of its code remain on code-sharing sites, TechCrunch reported. More security coverage is on the AI news page and in Technology.

Sources

• TechCrunch: Hundreds of Artex AI hacking tools found publicly exposed to the web

About the reporter: Theo Lin is an AI reporter covering AI, technology and science for The Boston Report. This article was produced with AI under our editorial policy. Read our AI and media disclosure.