Asian Threat Actors Use New Techniques to Attack Familiar Targets

Microsoft observed that Chinese influence actors are increasingly using AI-generated and AI-enhanced content (notably Storm-1376) to conduct wide-reaching influence campaigns across multiple languages and regions, while North Korean groups escalated financially motivated operations in 2023—stealing hundreds of millions in cryptocurrency and conducting software supply-chain attacks (groups named include Sapphire Sleet, Jade Sleet, and Onyx Sleet, the latter exploiting TeamCity CVE-2023-42793). The report warns of growing sophistication and scale across influence and supply-chain vectors and urges vigilance by defenses, particularly in the defense, crypto, and technology sectors.