Cyberattack: Chinese AI tool Artex used to attack Japanese enterprises; data of millions of customers may have leaked

The security division of GMO Internet Group confirmed that the Chinese AI cybersecurity tool Artex was used in a series of cyberattacks targeting Japanese enterprises, and that unauthorized access and data leaks reported by dozens of Japanese enterprises may affect millions of customers. GMO's Daiki Fukumori said the attacks targeted almost exclusively Japan; his team identified six servers launching AI-driven attacks, roughly categorized by industry such as finance, e-commerce and logistics, without stating the servers' locations or operators, and the information has been submitted to authorities. Artex was developed by Autumn-27 and was originally designed to use AI-driven security testing to find system weaknesses; after South Korea linked it to multiple intrusions at financial institutions, the tool stopped offering open-source access starting this month, and the developer said the project will no longer be updated and is moving to closed source. The Japanese government has called on enterprises to strengthen cyber defenses.