Suspected China-Aligned Hackers Targeted AI Policy and Security Experts
Goldlaner.com – A cyberespionage campaign targeting specialists involved in artificial intelligence policy, export controls and military uses of AI has raised fresh concerns about the struggle for technological advantage between the United States and China.
Proofpoint, a Silicon Valley cybersecurity company, said suspected Chinese hackers used impersonation emails to pursue access to the accounts of people at US universities, think tanks and law firms. The activity took place in February and July and focused on individuals whose work could offer valuable insight into how the United States is shaping AI rules, security policy and defense applications.
The company said it found no proof that the organizations targeted in the campaign were successfully compromised. Still, attempted access to the email accounts of policy experts and researchers can itself be significant. Such correspondence may contain professional networks, early policy discussions, research collaborations and details about areas of government and industry concern.
Mark Kelly, a staff researcher at Proofpoint, said the group’s targets, technical indicators and infrastructure pointed to a government-aligned Chinese threat actor.
“We are confident that [the hacking group] 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,” Kelly said.
China has regularly rejected US allegations involving state-linked hacking. The Chinese Embassy in Washington was asked for comment on the latest claims.
Impersonating familiar figures
The operation relied on a tactic designed to exploit professional trust: messages sent under the names of recognizable figures in the AI and technology policy world. One apparent impersonation involved Lynne Parker, who held senior White House technology roles during the administrations of President Donald Trump and President Joe Biden.
A recipient at a US law firm received an email that appeared to come from Parker and invited participation in an “AI policy advisory committee.” A later message included a document presented as additional material about the supposed committee, but the attachment contained malware.
Parker, now associate vice chancellor emerita at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville, said associates began contacting her after receiving suspicious emails from people claiming to be her.
“My first concern was for the colleagues who might receive the impersonated email,” Parker said. “I wanted to warn them but realized that’s very difficult to do when I don’t know who is being targeted.”
She said the incident carried a personal cost beyond the technical threat.
“On a personal level, I felt sadness that relationships I’ve built over my career were being exploited by bad actors to deceive others,” Parker said in an email.
Anthropic identity used in credential theft effort
Proofpoint also identified an apparent effort to pose as a senior employee at Anthropic, the US artificial intelligence company behind the Claude model. In an email dated February 26, the attackers contacted an AI policy analyst at a US think tank using the subject line, “Request for Feedback on Military Integration of Claude.”
The exchange was crafted to draw the recipient into a discussion about defense-related AI deployment. The apparent objective was to obtain the analyst’s email credentials, potentially giving the attackers access to private communications and other connected systems.
The timing placed the message amid heightened tensions over the relationship between AI companies and the Pentagon. The day after that email was sent, the Trump administration ordered federal agencies and military contractors to stop doing business with Anthropic after the company declined to permit unrestricted Pentagon use of its AI technology.
Anthropic has been among the companies advocating limits and safeguards around advanced AI systems. The dispute illustrates the difficult balance facing policymakers: governments want access to sophisticated tools for national security purposes, while developers are weighing safety, control and misuse risks.
AI Competition Expands the Cybersecurity Stakes
The alleged campaign emerged as artificial intelligence has become a central issue in US-China relations. Trump discussed AI with Chinese leader Xi Jinping at the White House last week, though the meeting did not yield a major agreement on the technology.
Trump has resisted calls for stricter guardrails on advanced AI models, arguing that excessive constraints could leave the United States behind China in the contest for AI leadership. His administration last month accused Chinese AI companies of carrying out “industrial-scale” theft of American trade secrets to reduce costs and accelerate product development. China denied those accusations.
The rivalry is not limited to consumer-facing chatbots or corporate products. AI depends on advanced semiconductors, computing capacity, specialized research, skilled workers and policy decisions about exports and military applications. That broad ecosystem creates many possible intelligence targets, from chip supply chains to academic researchers and officials advising governments.
Britain’s MI5 issued a warning Wednesday that British academics had contributed AI and cybersecurity research to a Chinese institute with close links to Chinese intelligence. The advisory said some academics might not have understood the institute’s intelligence connections.
For researchers, lawyers and policy advisers, the reported incidents underline a practical concern: a seemingly routine invitation, consultation request or document can be used to open a path into sensitive professional accounts. Familiar names, credible subjects and timely policy themes can make fraudulent outreach especially persuasive.
As governments, companies and academic institutions debate the future of AI, cybersecurity is becoming part of that debate rather than a separate technical issue. Protecting the people who shape AI policy may be as important as safeguarding the systems and data that power the technology itself.
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