Self-Taught Hacker Used AI Pentesting Tool to Breach 90 South Korean Firms and Steal 8.2 Million Records

A South Korean court arrested a 32-year-old self-taught hacker on October 15, 2026, after he used the ARTEX AI pentesting framework to breach over 90 organizations and extort victims for ransom, marking the country's first large-scale AI-assisted hacking case. The suspect, who previously worked at a cybersecurity firm from 2019 to 2022, began conventional attacks in September 2025 but shifted to the ARTEX framework in late August 2026 to automate and scale his operations. Across 38 incidents, he demanded 360 million won (approximately $270,000 USD) per target organization, claiming he would refrain from leaking stolen data in exchange for payment.