The AI key heist
Bots went hunting for AI keys 847 times.
Most wanted: Anthropic keys. They checked 33 hiding spots, from /.env.anthropic to /.claude/settings.local.json.
Edition of Thursday, Oct 8, 2026 (UTC) · see the latest · updated every 24 hours
847
AI key hunts
▲ +28,133% vs the day before
19
hunters
▲ +1,800% vs the day before
33
hiding spots
▲ +1,000% vs the day before
3.2%
of all probes
Every edition: AI key hunts
How we measure
Requests for paths that point at an AI provider's keys or an AI agent's settings: /.env.openai, /anthropic.json, /.claude/settings.json, /mcp.json, /.cursor/mcp.json and the like. Each path is credited to the first provider whose name it contains. Counted across every site behind the NiceTryBot edge during the UTC day.
Where they looked
The paths scanners tried, most-requested first.
| Path | Provider | Requests | Scanners |
|---|---|---|---|
| /.env.anthropic | Anthropic | 130 | 9 |
| /.claude/settings.local.json | Anthropic | 130 | 9 |
| /.claude/settings.json | Anthropic | 130 | 9 |
| /.env.openai | OpenAI | 130 | 9 |
| /gemini.json | Google Gemini | 25 | 1 |
| /stability.json | Stability AI | 25 | 1 |
| /assemblyai.json | AssemblyAI | 25 | 1 |
| /.env.stability | Stability AI | 25 | 1 |
| /.env.assemblyai | AssemblyAI | 25 | 1 |
| /.env.claude | Anthropic | 25 | 1 |
| /.env.elevenlabs | ElevenLabs | 25 | 1 |
| /claude.json | Anthropic | 17 | 2 |
| /elevenlabs.json | ElevenLabs | 15 | 1 |
| /pinecone.json | Pinecone | 15 | 1 |
| /anthropic.json | Anthropic | 15 | 1 |
| /langchain.json | LangChain | 15 | 1 |
| /.env.pinecone | Pinecone | 15 | 1 |
| /.env.langchain | LangChain | 15 | 1 |
| /openai.json | OpenAI | 15 | 1 |
| /deepseek_d.php | DeepSeek | 4 | 4 |
| /.well-known/mcp/server-card.json | MCP & agent configs | 3 | 2 |
| /.well-known/mcp | MCP & agent configs | 3 | 2 |
| /.cursor/mcp.json | MCP & agent configs | 2 | 1 |
| /.config/claude.json | Anthropic | 2 | 1 |
| /.github/copilot-instructions.md | MCP & agent configs | 2 | 2 |
Past editions
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Bots dressed up as Chrome, caught by their handshake. Plus the honest bots wearing name tags.
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