Phishing campaign impersonates AI policy figures in US and Japan
Proofpoint says China-aligned group TA419 used fake sign-in prompts to target policy experts, but its report does not establish whether credentials were stolen.
A Proofpoint report says the China-aligned group TA419 used emails impersonating prominent AI policy figures to target experts in the United States and Japan. The campaign included the identity of Lynne Edwards Parker, a former senior White House science and technology policy official.
Proofpoint said the group had operated since April 2025 and sent the reported campaign emails in July. Some messages appeared to invite recipients to join an “AI Policy Advisory Committee”; recipients who engaged were directed to fake login pages designed to capture credentials.
The report describes a fake browser sign-in pop-up embedded within a legitimate webpage, a method intended to make the prompt appear authentic. Targets included people at think tanks, defence contractors, universities and law firms.
Proofpoint did not name people whose accounts were compromised. Reuters identified Alex Engler, a former White House official who now leads the Penn Center on Media, Technology, and Democracy, as an email recipient. Engler said he checked with colleagues and found the sender was an impersonator; the account does not establish that his credentials were stolen.
Proofpoint also reported that TA419 impersonated an Anthropic employee in February in an effort to target AI policy experts. The firm expects the group to keep targeting policy specialists and using real people’s identities.
