A newbie hacker used "vague, low-skill prompts" in Claude and Codex to breach 14 companies, and the AI Agents did all the legwork

Date:
Mon, 22 Jun 2026 14:35:00 +0000

Description:
A newbie hacker is still a newbie hacker, though, and this one left a few gaping holes in his work.

FULL STORY ======================================================================Copy link Facebook X Whatsapp Reddit Pinterest Flipboard Threads Email Share this article 0 Join the conversation Follow us Add us as a preferred source on Google Newsletter Subscribe to our newsletter OALABS analyzed a novice attackers full working directory showing 14 breaches carried out with Claude Code and Codex agents Attacker used vague prompts; AI agents handled reconnaissance, exploit writing, and data harvesting, bypassing guardrails with ease Logs revealed attackers identity and location in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia A newbie cybercriminal managed to break into 14 organizations and steal sensitive data, just by using Anthropics Claude Code and OpenAIs Codex agents. This is according to cybersecurity researchers OALABS, who recovered and analyzed the attackers entire working directory.

The researchers used this news as yet another proof that advanced Generative Artificial Intelligence ( GenAI ) models are significantly lowering the barrier for entry into cybercrime, and to sound the alarm that the security community needs to step up. In many cases, the attacker supplied only vague, low-skill prompts and allowed Claude to fill in the gaps: researching exposed services, identifying possible vulnerabilities, writing exploit code, validating access, and harvesting data, the researchers said. The attacker
did not need to be an expert operator; they simply had to use the correct framing for their prompts. The agent supplied much of the structure and technical execution that the attacker appeared to lack. Latest Videos From Watch full video here: Doxxing the attacker OALABS could not find evidence that the stolen data was monetized in any way, either by being sold on the dark web, or by extorting the victim companies. They did, however, find numerous pieces of evidence about the attackers identity and whereabouts.

According to the researchers, the attacker did not run the AI agents on his own infrastructure, but rather on a third-party server, and when that third party discovered malicious activity, they downloaded the entire working directory and shared it with the researchers. You may like Hackers use Claude and ChatGPT to breach government agencies Weak safeguards leave thousands of AI agents open to attack Always-on AI Agents put everything hackers could
ever want behind a single attack surface

Because the agents were local to the host, their full session logs were recovered, including the attackers prompts, the tools used, the internal monologue of the large language model (LLM), and any policy violations recorded during the sessions, the researchers said.

OALABS was thus able to analyze more than 1,000 agent sessions, seeing how
the attacker was able, with ease, to bypass most of the agents guardrails. Among the sessions were also the threat actors CV with his full name, location, education history, and LinkedIn profile, as well as his IP address which showed that he was located in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. Are you a pro? Subscribe to our newsletter Sign up to the TechRadar Pro newsletter to get
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Link to news story: https://www.techradar.com/pro/security/a-newbie-hacker-used-vague-low-skill-pr ompts-in-claude-and-codex-to-breach-14-companies-and-the-ai-agents-did-all-the -legwork


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