Hydraq

Aur0ra ransomware group uses Cursor AI agents to reach domain admin and steal data

The Aur0ra✱ ransomware group, tracked as GOLD OGRE▲, used Cursor AI agents, including its Composer model and models from Anthropic◼, xAI and Moonshot, to move from stolen credentials to domain admin access in Active Directory environments. The agents mapped networks, tried password spraying, Kerberoasting and NTLM relay, and staged data for exfiltration to S3-compatible storage before ransomware deployment. Sophos says the group also used AI to test evasion of EDR products, and it expects other ransomware groups to adopt similar agents.