--- title: "Chinese Hackers Impersonate Anthropic Employee to Extract AI Secrets" description: "A cybersecurity firm says that a Chinese hacking group impersonated industry professionals to steal information from US AI policy experts." date: "2026-10-04" modified: "2026-10-04" authors: - name: "Maggie Harrison Dupré" job_title: "Senior Staff Writer" link: "https://futurism.com/authors/mharrison.md" url: "https://futurism.com/artificial-intelligence/chinese-hackers-impersonate-anthropic-ai-secrets" categories: - "Artificial Intelligence" tags: - "ai" - "china" - "cybersecurity" - "hacking" --- # Chinese Hackers Impersonate Anthropic Employee to Extract AI Secrets ![A hacker sitting in front of computer screens.]() *Shutterstock / Futurism* Cybercriminals who appear to be Chinese hackers pretended to be Anthropic researchers and former government officials in a scheme to obtain information about American AI development, [according to a report]() from the Silicon Valley cybersecurity firm Proofpoint. Per the report, the allegedly China-aligned hacking group, dubbed "TA419," impersonated AI industry professionals and even an ex-White House staffer to target "AI policy experts at US think tanks, universities, and law firms." The imposters crafted benign-sounding intro emails inviting targeted experts to join a made-up "AI Policy Advisory Committee" or to contribute to a fictional Senate Committee on Foreign Relations report. After exchanging a few emails, the group then sent its targets malware-laced documents designed to gain access to their cloud accounts. In one email, according to Proofpoint, hackers impersonating a senior Anthropic staffer used the subject line "Request for Feedback on Military Integration of Claude" to target someone working at a think tank. "We are confident," Mark Kelly, a Proofpoint researcher, [told *CNN*](), that the hacking cohort is a "Chinese government-aligned threat actor based on targeting consistently in line with Chinese government interests, observed infrastructure and technical artifacts, and corroboration from industry partners." Lynne Edwards Parker, who held the position of Principal Deputy Director of the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy under Joe Biden, was among those who were impersonated. She told *CNN* that in addition to concern for colleagues, the suspected espionage scheme left her with a sense of "sadness that relationships I've built over my career were being exploited by bad actors to deceive others." The Proofpoint report comes during a tense, dystopian, and extremely weird moment for AI development in the US. Americans [broadly agree]() that AI should be regulated — as do a handful of leading AI executives, led by Anthropic's Dario Amodei, who have been calling for the government to implement some regulations on their industry amid fears that uncontrollable AI could wreak havoc ranging from security and infrastructure catastrophes to Armageddon. The White House, however, along with industry figures like Meta's Mark Zuckerberg and Nvidia's Jensen Huang, have pushed back against calls to regulate. This week, the administration hosted a goofy summit where AI guys — [emphasis on guys]() — signed a document [described by President Donald Trump]() as a "morally-binding" agreement that would allow for "tremendous self-policing." One argument often spouted by the anti-regulation bunch, the president included, is that the US can't risk [ceding its lead]() in the [international AI arms race]() to China. "Whoever wins AI, WINS!" Trump recently thundered in a Truth Social post. In its report, Proofpoint opined that TA419 "will likely continue targeting think tanks and policy experts working on technologies, and in geographies, of particular interest to the Chinese government." "These campaigns will likely also continue spoofing the identities of real subject-matter experts," the security firm added. **More on** **AI:** *[Trump Launched an America.org "Super Intelligence" Chatbot and It Immediately Disagrees With Him on Huge Topics, Including Whether He Won the 2020 Election]()* ## Author At Futurism, I've reported extensively on the rise of AI as a cultural and business force shaping the media industry, and more broadly how those dynamics are changing how we all consume and share information and relate to one another. I'm also fascinated by public health policy and ethics, the role of emerging tech in politics and governance — and the powerful people and forces at those intersections — climate change, and the environment. My investigation on Sports Illustrated's use of AI-generated authors with fictional biographies won a 2024 Mirror Award for "Best Story on Media Coverage of Artificial Intelligence in Journalism and the Media" from Syracuse University's SI Newhouse School, I contributed to Niemen Lab's 2025 Predictions for Journalism series, and I've discussed my work for Futurism during appearances on NPR, CNN, the BBC, the CBC, and more. I grew up in rural Pennsylvania and attended the University of Massachusetts Amherst, where I played Division I field hockey for the Minutewomen as a midfielder. Since then, I've lived in New Orleans, Louisiana and Manhattan, New York. I spend my free time running, reading, perusing archival fashion, and searching for the world’s best negroni. I also have a debonair tuxedo cat, Westley, who's named after "The Princess Bride." ### Author social links [Bluesky]() ## More - [OpenAI Secretly Tried to Merge With Anthropic]() - [Anthropic Secretly Lobbying Government to Only Shut Down an AI Model If It’s Poised to Kill More Than 50 People]() - [Top Security Experts Alarmed by Power of Anthropic’s New Hacker AI]() - [Flailing OpenAI Calls for Ban on Chinese AI]() - [China Is Cracking Down on AI Companions Because Not Enough Babies Are Being Born]() - [Another Chinese AI Company Says It’s Beaten OpenAI]() - [China Thinks AI Could Make Its Military As Powerful as America’s]() - [China Says Chatbots Must Be Strictly Censored by Communist Guidelines]()