China-Linked Hackers Used AI Tool in Global Cyberattacks, Microsoft Says

A hacking group aligned with China's communist regime used an artificial intelligence (AI) tool to accelerate cyberattacks against hundreds of organizations worldwide, including an attack involving U.S. technology company ConnectWise, Microsoft said on Oct. 21.

Microsoft attributed the compromise of ConnectWise's Cloud Backup application credentials to Storm-0940, a Chinese regime-aligned hacking group it has tracked since 2021. The stolen credentials allowed the attackers to exploit access already granted to ConnectWise applications by customers using Microsoft's cloud services.

The hackers used ARTEX, a Chinese-developed AI security-testing tool, to automate attacks targeting government agencies, defense contractors, financial institutions, technology companies, and other organizations, Microsoft said.