Cheap Breach: AI Agents Help Hacker Attack 100+ Corporations for Just $5,000

The cost of a successful cyberattack on corporate infrastructure has plummeted to historic lows. On October 19, 2026, Reuters published an investigation (based on NorForge data) detailing a coordinated campaign to breach corporate networks using autonomous AI agents. A single threat actor automated vulnerability scanning, attacking over 1,200 websites and successfully compromising more than 100 companies, including industrial giants Deere and Cummins.

The hacker’s total expenditure on rented compute and model APIs was approximately $5,000, translating to a mere $50 per successful penetration. For the macroeconomics of information security, this is a catastrophic precedent. Agentic AI has completely eliminated the technical and financial barriers to entry for cybercriminals. The automation of offense is vastly outpacing the automation of defense, forcing the B2B sector to multiply monitoring budgets and transition to the total isolation of critical perimeters (Zero Trust).

Source: Reuters / NorForge