Cybercriminals who appear to be Chinese hackers pretended to be Anthropic researchers and former government officials in a scheme to obtain information about American AI development, according to a report from the Silicon Valley cybersecurity firm Proofpoint.
Per the report, the allegedly China-aligned hacking group, dubbed “TA419,” impersonated AI industry professionals and even an ex-White House staffer to target “AI policy experts at US think tanks, universities, and law firms.” The imposters crafted benign-sounding intro emails inviting targeted experts to join a made-up “AI Policy Advisory Committee” or to contribute to a fictional Senate Committee on Foreign Relations report. After exchanging a few emails, the group then sent its targets malware-laced documents designed to gain access to their cloud accounts.
In one email, according to Proofpoint, hackers impersonating a senior Anthropic staffer used the subject line “Request for Feedback on Military Integration of Claude” to target someone working at a think tank.
“We are confident,” Mark Kelly, a Proofpoint researcher, told CNN, that the hacking cohort is a “Chinese government-aligned threat actor based on targeting consistently in line with Chinese government interests, observed infrastructure and technical artifacts, and corroboration from industry partners.”
