AI agents tried to hack Library and Archives Canada website, research firm says

Recent breaches by rogue AI agents are alarming governments and companies

AI agents tried to hack into a Canadian government website, an artificial intelligence research firm said Wednesday, casting the effort as a failed hacking attempt, while Canada said there were no indications its systems were compromised.

AI research firm Transluce said the attempts exhibited tactics "consistent with prior observed agent activity that we have attributed to OpenAI in a similar timeframe." But it added it was not confidently attributing these attempts to OpenAI.

The agents attempted to access Library and Archives Canada on May 28 and June 9, Transluce said in a blog post. Transluce said it disclosed the action to the Canadian government on Monday.

The Canadian Centre for Cyber Security said Tuesday it was aware of reports of suspected AI agent activity. "There is no indication that government systems have been compromised at this time," it said in a statement.

OpenAI said it was "aware of reports of OpenAI models attempting to access publicly available information from Canadian government websites." A spokesperson said OpenAI was reviewing the reported findings and had provided an initial briefing to Canadian officials conducting the government’s review.

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Free online service arquivo.pt, the national Portuguese web archive that is operated by the Portuguese Foundation for Science and Technology, captured 899 requests hitting the "collection-search" service of the Library and Archives Canada, including a series of apparently failed rudimentary hacking attempts, on May 28 and June 9, Transluce said.

Several recent breaches globally by rogue AI agents have alarmed governments and companies.

Last week, Australia said an OpenAI agent breached a government health data portal in June, gaining unauthorized access to files, in what was the first known instance of an AI agent hacking into a government website.

OpenAI apologized on Tuesday for the hack by the rogue AI agent.