Cyberattacks using Chinese-made AI targeted approximately 80 Japanese companies, and 8 disclosed information leaks. The investigation found cases involving ARTEX (Altex), and 6 new attack infrastructures targeting Japanese companies were identified.
It was learned that the Chinese-made AI penetration-testing tool ARTEX was used in some of a series of cyberattacks reportedly targeting approximately 80 Japanese companies, 8 of which disclosed information leaks. A security company under GMO Internet Group is investigating in cooperation with external organizations and has newly identified 6 AI-enabled attack infrastructures targeting mainly Japanese companies.
An AI agent is an AI system that thinks through and makes decisions about tasks on its own based solely on human instructions, autonomously carrying out the necessary work while using external tools to perform multiple tasks simultaneously. ARTEX is an AI agent developed to identify weaknesses in corporate systems, and if misused by attackers, it could automatically attempt unauthorized access.
ARTEX is an open-source penetration-testing automation tool, making it readily available to attackers as well. It is currently unclear whether the attackers targeting Japanese companies are Chinese-speaking individuals, but it cannot be denied that ARTEX was effective in cyberattacks.
The era has arrived in which small groups of attackers outsource to AI tasks that traditionally required advanced technical expertise. Attacks targeting financial institutions have occurred in South Korea since late September, and a Cloudstrike investigation reportedly indicated that the attackers were Chinese-speaking and had used ARTEX and the AI system Claude.