American security company: Chinese hacker group faked the official website of the Japanese Defense Minister to launch a phishing attack

The Chinese hacker organization used forged domain names to create the illusion that the emails came from the official website of Defense Minister Koizumi and the Japan-Taiwan Exchange Association.

The American cyber security company "Proofpoint" announced on the 1st that a hacker group related to China has targeted think tanks and university scholars in Japan and the United States, and sent phishing emails used to illegally obtain passwords and other information. The investigation confirmed that there was an attack method that faked the official website of Japanese Defense Minister Shinjiro Koizumi.

"Sankei Shimbun" reported that according to Proofpoint, this hacker organization is called "TA419" and is determined to be related to China based on its attack methods and target selection and other characteristics. "TA419" began attacking defense-related companies and law firms in April 2025, and used forged network domains to create the illusion that the emails came from the official website of Defense Minister Koizumi or the Japan-Taiwan Exchange Association.

In the United States, hacker groups pretend to be former senior White House officials or employees of AI company Anthropic and send emails to artificial intelligence (AI) policy experts and think tanks. Once the recipient replies, they will be directed to a URL linking to a fake login screen in an attempt to steal sensitive information such as passwords.