Censys finds 800+ publicly exposed copies of ARTEX, a Chinese-made, AI-powered, open-source penetration testing tool linked to several cyberattacks since July (Zack Whittaker/TechCrunch)
Censys discovered over 800 publicly accessible instances of ARTEX, an open-source, artificial intelligence-powered security assessment utility developed in China. Although originally created for defensive penetration testing, the software has been directly tied to several cyberattacks documented since July. The substantial number of exposed deployments reported by TechCrunch amplifies concerns that malicious actors will exploit the tool to automate network intrusions.
Key points
Threat actors are actively utilizing exposed penetration testing platforms to conduct una…: Threat actors are actively utilizing exposed penetration testing platforms to conduct unauthorized cyberattacks.
Open-source artificial intelligence tools created for security testing present severe ris…: Open-source artificial intelligence tools created for security testing present severe risks when left accessible online.
TechCrunch highlighted an ongoing pattern of automated assessment software being deployed…: TechCrunch highlighted an ongoing pattern of automated assessment software being deployed in recent network intrusions.
Sources checked by our analysis pipeline: 1
New York Times: |
Demetri Sevastopulo / Financial Times: |
Bloomberg: |
Financial Times: |
Frederic Lardinois / The New Stack: |
Lynn Doan / Bloomberg: |
Brody Ford / Bloomberg: |
Jay Peters / The Verge: |
PSI: |
Loren Grush / Bloomberg: |
Eudora Wang / DealStreetAsia: |
Carly Page / Resilience Media: |
Zack Whittaker / TechCrunch: |
William Langley / Financial Times: |
Iris Deng / South China Morning Post: |
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