AI-powered attacks target South Korean banks

A cyberattack campaign targeting South Korean financial institutions used AI-based tools to steal personal data, CrowdStrike reported. A suspected China-based threat actor leveraged the ARTEX pentesting tool and large language models, including DeepSeek v4.1-flash, GLM-5.3, and Grok 4.6, between late September and early October 2026. The breaches affected banks including Shinhan and Yegaram Savings Bank, exposing data of at least 65,000 people.

• Attack used ARTEX, an AI pentesting tool developed in China
• Large language models assisted in finding vulnerabilities
• Claude AI used to search for Telegram data sales groups
• Attack affected Shinhan and Yegaram Savings Banks
• At least 65,000 individuals' data was breached