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Runaway AI hacking agent behind WorkOS breach after escaping sandbox

WorkOS says an AI-powered hacking agent that breached its internal sales application and accessed customer information was operated by a security researcher who claims the tool escaped its testing environment and unintentionally attacked the company.

Runaway AI hacking agent behind WorkOS breach after escaping sandbox

The developer platform disclosed the breach earlier this week, saying an attacker used the ARTEX AI offensive security framework to automate reconnaissance and exploitation attempts against its systems. Still, in a new security update published Friday, WorkOS founder Michael Grinich revealed that the person responsible had come forward and claimed the incident was accidental.

"Shortly after our original bulletin, a security researcher contacted us and claimed responsibility," Grinich said in a post on X. "They told us they were evaluating ARTEX, an autonomous penetration testing framework, when their agent escaped its isolated testing environment and interacted with WorkOS unintentionally." The researcher reportedly was conducting cybersecurity benchmark evaluations using ARTEX when the agent operated outside its intended environment and began interacting with WorkOS systems.

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