AI helped a hacker raid 90 Korean firms

Seoul police said on the 26th of October 2026 that a hacking ring used AI to steal 8.2 million personal records. The data came from more than 90 groups, including hospitals, private academies and golf courses.

Police caught 7 people. The 32 year old leader was sent to prosecutors on the 23rd of October, and the 6 others are still under investigation.

How AI sped up the attacks

At first the leader ran website scanning tools by hand to find weak spots. From the 31st of August he used an AI coding agent and an AI hacking tool, Seoul Economic Daily reported.

With AI he broke into 60 firms in just over 40 days, police said. Edaily wrote that the tool, called Artex, is made in China and picks its own methods for each target.

Police said the same tool was used in a recent leak at Korean financial firms. They found no link between the two cases.

Who the leader is

The leader has no IT degree and learned hacking from blogs and YouTube, police said. He also did practice hacking for a security firm from 2019 to 2022.

The money demands

The ring demanded 360 million won, about 272,000 dollars, from 38 victims, Yonhap reported. Only one small business paid, sending 300,000 won, Edaily wrote.

Helpers found on the Telegram chat app called staff at the firms to press them. They earned 10,000 to 30,000 won per call, Seoul Economic Daily wrote.

Below we break down the 8.2 million records

Three insurance sellers lost 3.22 million records, Edaily wrote. That is about 39 percent of all 8.2 million, by our arithmetic.

What is confirmed and what is not

Police did not name the AI coding agent the leader used. Only 15 firms have reported the theft so far, and police are looking for more victims.

Key facts

Police caught 7 people in the case.

The ring hit more than 90 groups.

The leader used AI to break into 60 firms in about 40 days.

One small business paid 300,000 won.