Artex AI tool goes closed-source after South Korea hacks

The developer of the Chinese AI cybersecurity tool Artex said it would stop public access to the tool's source code after South Korea linked it to recent hacks at banks and other financial institutions.

Artex was built to help organisations test cyber defences by finding possible weaknesses. Its developer, known as Autumn-27, wrote on GitHub on Thursday that the tool had been “abused by some bad actors” and would be converted to closed-source. The developer said no further public versions or maintenance support would be provided.

South Korea's government said this week it was “highly likely” Artex had been used in data breaches at more than seven financial institutions, including major banks. The Financial Services Commission said more than 68,000 people had been affected.

Shinhan Bank said information attached to loan applications for about 25,000 customers had been leaked, including names, phone numbers and annual income.

In Japan, about 20 companies have said their data may have been compromised in similar cyberattacks that could affect millions of customers. Japan's police chief Yoshinobu Kusunoki said Thursday it was not clear whether the cases were linked.

CrowdStrike said Wednesday that its investigation of digital clues suggested the attacker had used Artex and could be a 26-year-old based in China. The cybersecurity company said the threat actor was likely a Chinese speaker and financially motivated.

Experts told AFP that making Artex closed-source would make it harder for new users to obtain and adapt the code, but would not remove copies already downloaded.