The Crime Countermeasures Center of GMOサイバーセキュリティbyイエラエ identified the infrastructure behind cyberattacks using the Chinese AI tool ARTEX. Approximately 20 Japanese companies were targeted, and 8 companies have publicly disclosed information breaches.
The Crime Countermeasures Center of GMOサイバーセキュリティbyイエラエ announced in an official blog post that its investigation into the infrastructure behind cyberattacks targeting Japanese companies confirmed the use of ARTEX, an autonomous penetration-testing tool developed in China. Approximately 20 companies were targeted, 9 of which had websites in the same industry.
The post noted that ARTEX had also been used in attacks targeting South Korean financial institutions, suggesting that the same method may have extended to Japanese companies. According to the investigation, the identified attack infrastructure was observed primarily in Japan and targeted almost exclusively Japanese entities.
The targeted companies spanned a wide range of industries, including retail and distribution, education, gifts, printing, insurance, finance and media. At least 6 pieces of AI-enabled attack infrastructure targeting Japanese companies were identified. A total of 8 companies publicly disclosed information breaches between late September and October 2026, and the incidents have been linked to the possibility of an attack by the same group.
Information on the affected companies has been shared with law enforcement authorities, and monitoring and countermeasures are expected to continue.