Mythos Breach Shows Need for AI Framework, Magaziner

Rep. Seth Magaziner (R) Rhode Island said Anthropic is doing the right think by warning the world about what they discovered about Mythos and working with the Pentagon, but that Congress needs to develop a federal framework for AI.

A small group of unauthorized users have accessed Anthropic PBC’s new Mythos AI model, a technology that the company says is so powerful it can enable dangerous cyberattacks, according to a person familiar with the matter and documentation viewed by Bloomberg News.

A handful of users in a private online forum gained access to Mythos on the same day that Anthropic first announced a plan to release the model to a limited number of companies for testing purposes, said the person, who asked not to be named for fear of reprisal. The group has been using Mythos regularly since then, though not for cybersecurity purposes, said the person. A small group of unauthorized users have accessed Anthropic PBC’s new Mythos AI model, a technology that the company says is so powerful it can enable dangerous cyberattacks, according to a person familiar with the matter and documentation viewed by Bloomberg News.

A handful of users in a private online forum gained access to Mythos on the same day that Anthropic first announced a plan to release the model to a limited number of companies for testing purposes, said the person, who asked not to be named for fear of reprisal. The group has been using Mythos regularly since then, though not for cybersecurity purposes, said the person, who corroborated the account with screenshots and a live demonstration of the model.

Anthropic has said Mythos is capable of identifying and exploiting vulnerabilities “in every major operating system and every major web browser when directed by a user to do so.” As a result, the company has taken pains to ensure that the technology is only available to a select batch of software providers through an initiative called Project Glasswing, with the goal of allowing those firms to test and safeguard their own systems from potential cyberattacks.  The unauthorized access, which has not previously been reported, highlights the challenge Anthropic faces in fully preventing its most powerful — and potentially dangerous — technology from spreading beyond approved partners. It also raises questions about whether anyone else may be using Mythos without permission, and for what purpose.

Why Anthropic Won’t Release Mythos to the Public: Explainer

The users relied on a mix of tactics to get into Mythos. These included using access the person had as a worker at a third-party contractor for Anthropic and trying commonly used internet sleuthing tools often employed by cybersecurity researchers, the person said. The users are part of a private Discord channel that focuses on hunting for information about unreleased models, including by using bots to scour for details that Anthropic and others have posted on unsecured websites such as GitHub.

“We’re investigating a report claiming unauthorized access to Claude Mythos Preview through one of our third-party vendor environments,” a spokesperson for Anthropic said in a statement. The company said it currently has no evidence that the access reported by Bloomberg went beyond a third-party vendor’s environment or that it is impacting any of Anthropic’s systems. The unauthorized access, which has not previously been reported, highlights the challenge Anthropic faces in fully preventing its most powerful — and potentially dangerous — technology from spreading beyond approved partners. It also raises questions about whether anyone else may be using Mythos without permission, and for what purpose.

Why Anthropic Won’t Release Mythos to the Public: Explainer

The users relied on a mix of tactics to get into Mythos. These included using access the person had as a worker at a third-party contractor for Anthropic and trying commonly used internet sleuthing tools often employed by cybersecurity researchers, the person said.

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