Some of South Korea’s biggest banks have been hacked with the assistance of an artificial intelligence agent, opening up a new front in the AI and cybersecurity worlds.

Officials say at least seven financial firms were included in the attack, which saw personal information for 68,000 people stolen, including annual income and loan limits. This marks one of the first times AI tools have been used to disrupt global financial stalwarts.

It’s notable, since banks and other financial institutions typically have a higher level of security than other businesses or even some government agencies. Officials say they haven’t identified the people responsible for the attacks, which originated from over two dozen IP addresses spread out over several countries, including the U.S. and Japan. (Hackers frequently spoof their IP address to remain anonymous.)

South Korean officials are urging banks to boost their defenses. And the intrusions could serve as a warning shot for banks in the United States and other countries as well.

“AI gives attackers more opportunities to exploit gaps before defenders respond,” Yagub Rahimov, CEO of Polygraf AI, tells Fast Company. “My advice to bank leadership is to take a step back and invest in threat mapping. Trace the actual paths to sensitive data through employee activities, vendor connections, applications, APIs [application programming interfaces], and human and machine identities. They need to identify the systems that are reachable.”

The hackers apparently used Artex AI, an open-source agent developed in China, which ironically was designed as a cybersecurity tool that helped users find vulnerabilities in their networks.

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