Taiwan's Chip Industry Comes Under Attack By China-Linked Hackers As Trump Administration Tightens Export Controls: Report
Chinese-linked cybercriminals have reportedly intensified their attacks on Taiwan's semiconductor industry, targeting companies and financial analysts amid escalating U.S. export restrictions, according to cybersecurity researchers.
What Happened: In a new analysis released Wednesday, cybersecurity firm Proofpoint reported a spike in cyber-espionage campaigns by at least three China-aligned hacking groups between March and June of this year, with some activity still ongoing, according to Reuters.
"We've seen entities that we hadn't ever seen being targeted in the past being targeted," said Mark Kelly, a threat researcher at Proofpoint focused on Chinese-related threats.
The hackers reportedly targeted 15 to 20 organizations, including semiconductor firms, small businesses, and analysts at at least one U.S.-based international bank.
While Proofpoint did not disclose specific victims, major Taiwanese chipmakers include Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. (NYSE:TSM), MediaTek, United Microelectronics Corp. (NYSE:UMC), Nanya Technology (OTC:NNYAF) and Realtek Semiconductor.
One group used compromised Taiwanese university email accounts to impersonate job seekers and send malware-laced PDFs or password-protected files.
Another campaign targeted analysts by posing as a fake investment firm offering collaboration opportunities. The attacks ranged from a few highly targeted emails to broad campaigns with up to 80 messages.
A spokesperson for the Chinese Embassy in Washington denied any involvement, telling the publication that cyberattacks are a global issue and that China "firmly opposes and combats all forms of cyber attacks and cyber crime."
Why It's Important: The cyberattacks coincide with the growing efforts of the Donald Trump administration to cut off China's access to advanced semiconductors, many of which are manufactured in Taiwan.
Meanwhile, U.S. AI chip giant Nvidia Corporation (NASDAQ:NVDA) is set to restart shipments of its H20 GPUs to China following the Donald Trump administration's approval of export license applications.
The approval comes after export controls in April blocked $2.5 billion worth of H20 shipments earlier and paused an additional $8 billion in planned deliveries.
Benzinga Edge Stock Rankings indicate that TSMC displayed a stronger price trend across the short, medium and long term. While its growth ranking remained solid, its value ranking was comparatively weak. You can find the full breakdown of metrics here.
Read Next:
Photo Courtesy: Dilok Klaisataporn on Shutterstock.com
Disclaimer: This content was partially produced with the help of AI tools and was reviewed and published by Benzinga editors.
© 2025 Benzinga.com. Benzinga does not provide investment advice. All rights reserved.
