All posts tagged: cyber

Former cyber executive turned whistleblower accuses IBM of covering up several data breaches

Former cyber executive turned whistleblower accuses IBM of covering up several data breaches

Published by skeptic

A former IBM cybersecurity executive accused the company of getting hacked three times in the previous decade by foreign governments and then covering up the breaches.  In a lawsuit unsealed this week but filed in 2020, William Barlow, who was IBM’s vice president of threat intelligence until August 2019, said IBM concluded Chinese hackers breached its core network between 2013 and 2016 but that the company then covered up the breaches and never disclosed them. Barlow also said at least two IBM subsidiaries were also breached, and that IBM covered up those breaches as well. Barlow alleged in his complaint that IBM’s core network was “routinely hacked by foreign state actors and others,” adding that data was frequently stolen and government agencies were “never notified.”  While the alleged breaches date back more than a decade, the news shows that cyberattacks, even those affecting large public tech companies such as IBM, sometimes never get disclosed, either to the public or to relevant government authorities. IBM is a major cybersecurity vendor to the U.S. federal government, which …

Hong Kong securities regulator warns licensed firms of AI-driven cyber threats

Hong Kong securities regulator warns licensed firms of AI-driven cyber threats

Published by Sam Flores

June 2 : Hong Kong’s securities regulator on Tuesday urged licensed firms to bolster their cybersecurity defenses, warning of a surge in increasingly advanced and targeted AI-driven cyber threats. • In a circular, the Securities and Futures Commission said licensed firms, specifically internet brokers and virtual asset-trading platforms, should adopt up-to-date safeguards to prevent unauthorised access to client data and guard against asset misappropriation. • Incidents of cyberattack increased 27 per cent to 15,877 in 2025 from 12,536 in 2024, the body said, referring to data from the Hong Kong Computer Emergency Response Team Coordination Centre. • The regulator said AI was enabling malicious actors to identify and exploit vulnerabilities faster and launch large-scale attacks, while lowering barriers to phishing and social engineering. • The SFC also identified areas where companies can strengthen cybersecurity, including patching and vulnerability management, detection and monitoring, and incident response and recovery. • Eric Yip, the SFC’s executive director of intermediaries, said senior management at licensed firms should take primary responsibility for cyber resilience and protecting client assets. • Recently, …

Anthropic to brief global financial watchdog on cyber flaws exposed by Mythos, FT reports

Anthropic to brief global financial watchdog on cyber flaws exposed by Mythos, FT reports

Published by Sam Flores

May 18 : Artificial intelligence startup Anthropic is set to brief the Financial Stability Board (FSB) on cyber vulnerabilities in the global financial system identified by its latest AI model, Mythos, the Financial Times reported on Monday, citing people familiar with the plan.  The Claude chatbot-maker will discuss the capabilities of its new Mythos Preview AI model with leading finance ministries and central banks from the FSB, following a request by Bank of England Governor Andrew Bailey, the FT said. Bailey chairs the global risk watchdog, which is responsible for coordinating financial rules for G20 economies.  Reuters could not immediately verify the report. Anthropic and the FSB did not immediately respond to Reuters’ requests for comment.  Mythos, announced last month but not yet released, is a cybersecurity model designed to detect decades-old vulnerabilities in web browsers, infrastructure and software, according to Anthropic. Cybersecurity experts have warned the system could supercharge more sophisticated cyberattacks, posing a risk to the banking industry reliant on legacy technology systems. In April, BoE Governor Bailey warned that Mythos could pose …

Pentagon deploys Anthropic’s Mythos to patch cyber gaps while planning to ditch firm

Pentagon deploys Anthropic’s Mythos to patch cyber gaps while planning to ditch firm

Published by Sam Flores

WASHINGTON, May 12 : The Pentagon is deploying Anthropic’s Mythos cybersecurity model to find and patch software vulnerabilities across the U.S. government even as it races to complete a transition away from the AI company, the Defense Department’s top technology official said on Tuesday. Announced on April 7, Mythos is being deployed as part of Anthropic’s “Project Glasswing,” a controlled initiative under which select organizations are permitted to use ​the unreleased Claude Mythos Preview model for defensive cybersecurity purposes. Mythos, according to Anthropic, is capable of detecting decades-old vulnerabilities in web browsers, infrastructure and software. Emil Michael, the Defense Department’s chief technology officer and under secretary for research and engineering, said the Pentagon continues to execute on its plan to remove Anthropic’s products from its work in the coming months. However, he said the Mythos issue “is a national security moment” where the government has hardened up networks, because that model has capabilities that are particular to finding cyber vulnerabilities and patching them. Michael told attendees at a conference in Washington, D.C., that while those …

Cyber attack advice line launched by DfE to help schools

Cyber attack advice line launched by DfE to help schools

Published by skeptic

The government has launched a new advice service for schools on how to deal with cyber attacks, amid concerns education is “disproportionately targeted” but has weaker defences than other sectors. The DfE’s Cyber Security Hub is an online service which aims to provide schools with clear, practical guidance to help improve their IT security. It includes resources and support for schools, guidance on how to create a cyber support plan along with a template, and information for schools in response to specific cyber attacks. A presentation about the new service was delivered at the Schools and Academies Show. Arati Patel-Mistry, the DfE’s cyber security sector lead, said the new service would provide “digestible, clear and understandable” information for all members of staff in the event of a cyberattack. The service was tested across different types of schools before it was launched, including primaries, secondaries, special schools, trusts and local authorities. Martin Sivorn, deputy director and chief information security officer at the DfE, said they had “a body of evidence” that showed education was “disproportionately” targeted by …

Pentagon CTO rules out resolution with Anthropic, calls Mythos a broader ‘cyber moment’

Pentagon CTO rules out resolution with Anthropic, calls Mythos a broader ‘cyber moment’

Published by Sam Flores

One of the Pentagon’s top technology leaders ruled out any reconciliation with Anthropic, despite the White House softening its own tone on the AI company. “Never again will we be single-threaded with any one model,” Emil Michael, under secretary of Defense for research and engineering, said Thursday in a fireside chat at the AI+ Expo… Source link

North Korea calls US cyber crime accusations ‘absurd slander’

North Korea calls US cyber crime accusations ‘absurd slander’

Published by Sam Flores

SEOUL: North Korea dismissed on Sunday (May 3) United States accusations that it has engaged in cyber crimes to generate illicit revenues, calling the criticism “absurd slander”. Washington has accused Pyongyang of ramping up a cyber-warfare program responsible for the theft of billions of dollars in virtual assets in recent years, turning hacking into a key source of foreign currency in the face of biting sanctions over its nuclear and weapons programmes. In a statement carried by the official Korean Central News Agency, an unnamed foreign ministry spokesperson said the US government had been “trying to spread incorrect understanding” about North Korea, “talking about the non-existent ‘cyber threat’”. “This is nothing but an absurd slander to tarnish the image of our country by spreading false information in pursuit of political purposes,” it said. The US Justice Department in April sentenced two Americans for helping North Koreans obtain remote IT work with US companies and raising more millions of dollars in illicit revenue for its weapons programmes. More than 100 US companies were targeted, including a …

Over 40% of UK firms suffered cyber attack last year, survey finds

Over 40% of UK firms suffered cyber attack last year, survey finds

Published by Sam Flores

LONDON, April 30 : More than two-fifths of British businesses suffered a cyber breach or attack in the past 12 months, the same figure as for the previous year, according to a government survey published on Thursday. Approximately 612,000 businesses reported at least one cyber breach or attack in 2025/26, the government’s Cyber Security Breaches Survey found. • 43 per cent of businesses reported a breach or attack in 2025/26, with the most common breach or attack being phishing attacks, suffered by 38 per cent – both the same figures as for 2024/25 • There has been a decrease in prevalence among businesses since 2023/24, when 50 per cent experienced a breach or attack • Britain’s minister for cyber security urged business leaders to take action now, especially as AI is making the threat more acute. • The head of Britain’s cyber security agency warned last week of a potential rise in cyber attacks linked to hostile states. Ministers have also sent an open letter to business warning about AI-related cyber threats. Source link

Australian banks warned frontier AI could create larger, faster cyber attacks

Australian banks warned frontier AI could create larger, faster cyber attacks

Published by Sam Flores

SYDNEY, April 30 : Australia’s financial system regulator said on Thursday the country’s banks were not keeping pace with AI industry developments, warning frontier AI systems such as Anthropic’s Mythos had the potential to lead to larger and faster cyber attacks. In a letter to banks, the Australian Prudential Regulation Authority (APRA) said most of the industry’s information security practices were struggling to match the rate of change in AI. The regulator said the speed of AI development could pose a growing threat to Australia’s financial services. “It also warns frontier AI models such as Anthropic’s Claude Mythos, which could enhance the discovery of vulnerabilities by bad actors, are expected to further increase the probability, speed and scale of cyber attacks,” APRA said in a statement referencing a review that it had conducted. Anthropic did not immediately respond to a Reuters request for comment.  Potential risks posed by Mythos, which has high-level coding capabilities, have given it a potentially unprecedented ability to identify cybersecurity vulnerabilities, experts have warned. Anthropic has launched ​Claude Mythos Preview under …

Unauthorized group has gained access to Anthropic’s exclusive cyber tool Mythos, report claims

Unauthorized group has gained access to Anthropic’s exclusive cyber tool Mythos, report claims

Published by skeptic

A group of unauthorized users has reportedly gained access to Mythos, the cybersecurity tool recently announced by Anthropic. Much has been made of Mythos and its purported power — an AI product designed for enterprise security that, in the wrong hands, could become a potent hacking tool, according to the company. Now Bloomberg has reported that a “private online forum,” the members of which have not been publicly identified, has managed to gain access to the tool through a third-party vendor. “We’re investigating a report claiming unauthorized access to Claude Mythos Preview through one of our third-party vendor environments,” an Anthropic spokesperson told TechCrunch. The company said that, so far, it has found no evidence that the supposedly unauthorized activity has impacted Anthropic’s systems in any way. The unauthorized group tried a number of different strategies to gain access to the model, including using “access” enjoyed by the person who was interviewed by Bloomberg. That person is currently employed at a third-party contractor that works for Anthropic, the outlet reported. Members of the group are …