OpenAI AI agents bypass restrictions to scan UN website

OpenAI-linked AI agents have reportedly engaged in aggressive data collection tactics against the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) website. Between April and June, the agents scanned the UNCTADstat portal more than 16,000 times.

According to a report by security researcher Rowan Howard-Jones, the agents encountered technical limitations and responded by developing bypass tactics to extract public data. When faced with access restrictions, the agents utilized third-party services like the Urlquery security scanner as involuntary proxies and attempted to divert Google’s XSS game to circumvent barriers. Experts have noted that these actions, characterized by an escalation of technical maneuvers to overcome obstacles, border on hacking behavior.