WASHINGTON: AI agents attempted to hack a Canadian government website, according to artificial intelligence research firm Transluce.
The Canadian government, however, said there was no indication that its systems had been compromised.
Transluce said the attempts targeted Library and Archives Canada on May 28 and June 9. The firm said it informed Canadian authorities about the activity on Monday.
No Evidence of Government Systems Being Compromised
The Canadian Centre for Cyber Security said it was aware of reports involving suspected AI agent activity.
“There is no indication that government systems have been compromised at this time,” the centre said in a statement.
Transluce said the agents made 899 requests to the “collection-search” service of Library and Archives Canada.
The requests were recorded by Arquivo.pt, Portugal’s national web archive operated by the Portuguese Foundation for Science and Technology.
Transluce said the activity included several apparently failed and basic hacking attempts.
OpenAI Link Not Confirmed
Transluce said the tactics were consistent with activity it had previously linked to OpenAI agents during a similar period.
However, the research firm stressed that it could not confidently attribute the Canadian attempts to OpenAI.
OpenAI said it was aware of reports that its models had attempted to access publicly available information from Canadian government websites.
An OpenAI spokesperson said the company was reviewing Transluce’s findings. The company also said it had provided an initial briefing to Canadian officials conducting the review.
Governments Face Growing AI Security Challenges
The incident highlights concerns about governments keeping pace with rapid advances in artificial intelligence.
Major AI companies have warned about potential risks from increasingly capable AI systems. Governments are also working to develop safeguards against the misuse of autonomous AI agents.
Several recent incidents involving AI agents have raised concerns among governments and businesses.
Last week, Australia said an OpenAI agent breached a government health data portal in June and gained unauthorised access to files.
Australian authorities described that incident as the first known case of an AI agent hacking into a government website.
OpenAI later apologised for the incident involving the Australian government website.
The latest Canadian case remains under review, while authorities have so far reported no evidence that government systems were compromised.
