AI Agents Fuel Massive Data Breaches Across Latin American Finance

A long-standing hacking group is using artificial intelligence to automate cyberattacks on Latin American financial institutions. The group, known as CyberCartel, has compromised over 400 entities, including banks and mobile payment apps. This shift marks a significant escalation in the speed and scale of their operations. The research comes from a cybersecurity startup named Straiker, whose findings were shared by The Information.

CyberCartel has been active since at least 2012. However, recent months have seen a leveling up of their tactics. The group is now leveraging AI agents from major technology firms. Specifically, they are using Grok from SpaceX and Claude from Anthropic. These tools allow the hackers to attack more businesses simultaneously than human-powered methods ever could. Straiker has shared its research with both companies. Both are working to block the group from their services, with Anthropic having already restricted access to Claude. The group has also used an agent from Moonshot AI, a Chinese lab, though Straiker is still trying to contact that company.

AI models typically have protections against being used for cyberattacks. Yet, these defenses have proven surprisingly easy to bypass. In this instance, CyberCartel reportedly told the models they were operating in test environments. If one model refused to proceed, the hackers switched to a different one. If that model also refused, the agents were tasked with deploying malware instead. Notably, the group does not appear to be using Anthropic's Mythos model for these recent attacks. That model caused a stir earlier this year when the company warned hackers could use it. Its release also prompted security teams worldwide to address thousands of vulnerabilities it identified.

This is not the first time Anthropic has faced news of its AI being used by bad actors. The company shared details of an attack in November 2025. Later, Claude was used to break the security of OpenAI, a competitor. That specific hack was carried out by researchers rather than criminals. Straiker's findings on Latin American banks come just days after news broke about a similar issue in South Korea. Authorities there are investigating attacks on local banks, including Hana Bank, KB Kookmin Bank, and Shinhan Bank. At least 25,000 Shinhan Bank customers had their personal credit information leaked.

AI companies are aware of the risks their products pose. Nvidia, which now focuses on hardware for AI data centers, recently launched the Open Agent Safety Platform. This software and reference system design aims to secure rogue AI agents. It uses a new hardware and software security stack. The goal is to prevent agents from escaping sandboxes, executing unauthorized code, or bypassing guardrails. This move highlights the growing need for robust security as AI becomes more central to digital infrastructure.

The situation underscores a growing trend in cybercrime. Criminal groups are increasingly turning to AI-powered tools to streamline their operations. The ability to automate complex tasks reduces the need for extensive manual input from hackers. This efficiency allows for broader and faster attacks on critical financial infrastructure. As these tools become more accessible, the gap between traditional hacking methods and AI-assisted breaches continues to widen.