Key findings
- Between March and June 2025, Proofpoint Threat Research observed three Chinese state-sponsored threat actors conduct targeted phishing campaigns against the Taiwanese semiconductor industry. In all cases, the motive was most likely espionage.
- Targets of these campaigns ranged from organizations involved in the manufacturing, design, and testing of semiconductors and integrated circuits, wider equipment and services supply chain entities within this sector, as well as financial investment analysts specializing in the Taiwanese semiconductor market.
- This activity likely reflects China’s strategic priority to achieve semiconductor self-sufficiency and decrease reliance on international supply chains and technologies, particularly in light of US and Taiwanese export controls.
China-aligned threat actors have routinely targeted the semiconductor industry for many years. This activity likely aligns with China’s internal strategic economic priorities, which have increasingly emphasized the importance of semiconductor technologies in successive national economic development initiatives, including the Five-Year Plans. A growing focus on ensuring strategic self-reliance for semiconductor technologies, accelerated by external pressures from export controls, has likely reinforced the priority of intelligence collection operations directed at this industry. This is reflected in China-aligned espionage activity tracked by the Proofpoint Threat Research team, where we are currently observing an elevated level of targeting of the industry by China-aligned groups compared to historical activity.
Between March and June 2025, Proofpoint identified multiple China-aligned threat actors specifically targeting Taiwanese organizations within the semiconductor industry. This included a China-aligned threat actor tracked as UNK_FistBump targeting semiconductor design, manufacturing, and supply chain organizations in employment-themed phishing campaigns resulting in the delivery of Cobalt Strike or the custom Voldemort backdoor.
Additionally, Proofpoint observed another China-aligned threat actor tracked as UNK_DropPitch targeting individuals in multiple major investment firms who specialize in investment analysis specifically within the Taiwanese semiconductor industry. This UNK_DropPitch targeting is exemplary of intelligence collection priorities spanning less obvious areas of the semiconductor ecosystem beyond just design and manufacturing entities. Finally, we also observed an actor tracked as UNK_SparkyCarp conducting credential phishing activity against a Taiwanese semiconductor company using a custom Adversary in the Middle (AiTM) phishing kit.
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