UK on alert over Beijing-backed AI hacking spree

UK on alert over Beijing-backed AI hacking spree

Britain's National Cyber Security Centre is urgently investigating a Chinese state-aligned hacking campaign that may have compromised sensitive British secrets. Microsoft linked the global attacks to a group called Storm-0940 and said it has targeted defence, energy, finance, government and technology organisations since at least September. The hackers used an open-source Chinese tool named Artex to connect existing hacking software to AI agents, letting them breach cloud systems sometimes in under three hours. American firm ConnectWise, whose cloud service backs up Microsoft 365 email and files for major organisations, was compromised and forced to suspend services. The company said stored backups showed no sign of compromise but warned that switching off its service would not remove access attackers may already have gained inside customer systems. Britain has now announced 130 million pounds for AI security, including a National Cyber Shield, to guard against the faster automated attacks.