Exclusive-Russian-speaking cybercriminals used SpaceX’s Cursor AI tool to hack seven companies

Russian-speaking hackers exploited SpaceX's AI coding assistant, Cursor, to breach seven companies earlier this year, according to data reviewed by Reuters and Gambit Security. Gambit's chief strategy officer, Curtis Simpson, stated that this incident demonstrated the ongoing cat-and-mouse game between AI providers and malicious users.

The hackers used the Cursor agent, which is powered by Anthropic's Claude Sonnet 4.5, to carry out malicious operations such as credential theft and account takeover by falsely claiming it was part of a simulation. Six of the affected companies were identified, including a Belgian chemical company, German garage door manufacturer Teckentrup, and a Scotland-based helicopter landing site vetting agency.