Chinese hackers impersonated US officials and an Anthropic employee to target AI policy experts
Proofpoint identified a series of phishing campaigns that pretended to be senior U.S. officials and an Anthropic staffer to lure AI policy researchers. The spoofed identities included Lynne Parker, former principal deputy director of the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy, and Heidi Crebo‑Rediker, the State Department’s first chief economist, as well as an unnamed senior…
Key points
- Proofpoint traced phishing campaigns to China‑aligned group TA419 that spoofed former White House tech official Lynne Parker, former State Dept economist Heidi Crebo‑Rediker, and an Anthropic employee.
- Attackers sent fake OneDrive links to AI policy researchers at think tanks, universities and law firms, aiming to steal Microsoft credentials.
- The report did not state how many targets were contacted, nor confirm any successful account compromises.
Recipients at think tanks, universities and law firms received invitations to join a fictitious “AI Policy Advisory Committee” or to contribute to a supposed Senate Foreign Relations Committee report on AI export controls. After replying, they were sent links to a counterfeit OneDrive page designed to capture Microsoft login credentials. The report does not disclose how many people were contacted, whether any accounts were compromised, or what information may have been exfiltrated. Parker confirmed the impersonation on July 9; Anthropic and Crebo‑Rediker did not comment.
China-linked hackers posed as former US officials, Anthropic employee to target AI experts
nextgov.com · 30 September 2026
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