TeamT5: Chinese state-backed hackers more than doubled attacks using AI
Chinese state-backed hackers have ramped up their cyberattacks, more than doubled the amount of attacks they carried out, by using AI tools, says Taiwanese firm TeamT5.
Open-source models like DeepSeek are helping them quickly scan targets and build malware, mainly because these tools are cheap, powerful, and have few security limits.
Hackers used DeepSeek, ChatGPT, Claude code
TeamT5 found groups like Grimfengxi using DeepSeek to write exploit code, while others like Teleboyi used it to collect 1,000 IP addresses from the internet and map a company's domains.
A hacking-software company used ChatGPT during an attack on a Western think tank and, after obtaining a copy of an employee's local Signal database from a compromised computer, used the chatbot to help build a software module designed to decrypt it.
The big worry? Anthropic's Claude Code tool was used in autonomous attacks on 30 entities, a sign that smarter AI could make future hacks even tougher to stop.