From late September through early November, a series of cyberattacks and attempted intrusions affected financial institutions and related organizations across several countries, with some incidents linked to the use of artificial intelligence.
In South Korea, several financial institutions were targeted by hackers beginning in late September. Reports linked some of the attacks to ARTEX, an AI-powered hacking tool that can help carry out cyberattacks.
Customer information was exposed at several institutions, including Shinhan Bank, Hana Bank, and KB Kookmin Bank.
A separate hacking campaign began on October 17, when a China-linked group used AI tools to target more than 200 organizations across at least 14 countries in just 11 days.
The targets included government departments, telecommunications companies and organizations in the financial and defence sectors. Security researchers confirmed that the hackers had gained access to at least nine organizations.
Other major cyberattacks have also been reported during the same period.
Japanese internet company GMO Internet Group confirmed that hackers had accessed its Onamae.com Desktop Cloud service on October 20. The company reported that the ransomware attack may have compromised 26,739 customer servers.
On October 29, cryptocurrency exchange Binance suffered a theft involving more than $6 billion (USD) in digital assets. The FBI attributed the theft to North Korea.
On November 4, French bank Crédit Mutuel Arkéa confirmed it had suffered a cyberattack that allowed fraudulent transactions. Reports put the potential losses at approximately US$133 million, although the bank has not confirmed that figure. It said the attack was under control and customers’ money was not affected, according to the bank’s official statement.
A separate cyberattack also targeted three blood banks in France, attempting to raise the temperature of rooms used to store donated blood to dangerous levels. The attack was stopped before any lasting damage occurred.
The attacks on essential services extended beyond France, with hackers also targeting supermarket refrigeration systems in six European countries on November 2, remotely changing temperature settings and causing mass food spoilage.
The growing number of incidents has also caught the attention of world leaders and financial regulators.
On October 16, G7 finance leaders agreed to hold exercises that would test how governments and financial institutions respond to AI-driven cyberattacks.
The European Central Bank also required banks in the eurozone to submit plans by October 31 explaining how they would protect themselves against cyberattacks involving advanced AI tools.