A Chinese-developed artificial intelligence tool, known as ARTEX, has been identified in cyberattacks targeting Japanese companies, according to a Japanese cybersecurity investigation.
What happened
Researchers found the software in attacks on Japanese firms, including retailers, logistics companies, and online services, which disclosed the leak of millions of records. The tool, which uses AI to find and exploit weaknesses in computer systems, was initially discovered on one overseas server that had targeted approximately 20 Japanese companies.
Further investigation revealed five more overseas servers running ARTEX, bringing the total to six servers targeting around 80 Japanese companies across various sectors. Eight of the targeted companies had publicly disclosed cyberattacks between September 18 and October 18.
Separately, several Japanese businesses reported substantial data breaches, including Lawson, a major convenience store chain, which reported the leak of personal information associated with over 2 million accounts. Yamato Transport confirmed the theft of about 5.26 million customer information records from its payment-after-delivery service.
The Japanese discovery follows a report by US cybersecurity company CrowdStrike, which identified ARTEX in a campaign targeting South Korean financial organizations from late September to early October. The attacker used ARTEX primarily with China’s DeepSeek AI model and additional sessions involved China’s GLM and xAI’s Grok.
