Cyber chiefs of the British, US, Australian, New Zealand and Canadian alliance issued a ‘call to action’ due to fears criminal kingpins are plotting new ways to unleash tech attacks
Artificial intelligence (AI) is weeks away from being used by crooks to hack into major business networks and spark cyberattack meltdown, global spy bosses have warned.
Cyber chiefs of the British, US, Australian, New Zealand and Canadian alliance issued a “call to action” amid fears criminal kingpins are plotting new ways to unleash tech attacks.
They’re worried all hell could soon break loose as super-intelligent robots are dispatched to break into the digital security walls protecting some of the world’s biggest firms and their private data. It comes after Donald Trump barred AI group Anthropic from unveiling its new models, Fable 5 and Mythos 5, outside of the US over security concerns.
And senior spooks fear AI will soon become so clever that it can easily find flaws in any firm’s software, releasing staff and customer data to criminals around the world.
The Five Eyes spy alliance, which includes British Bonds, said: “We are united in our call to action: the evolving landscape of artificial intelligence is rapidly transforming cyber-risk, and we must act swiftly to remain ahead. While Al will help us improve cyberdefence over time, it also accelerates the speed, scale and sophistication of cyberthreats.
“Frontier Al models are anticipated to exceed current industry expectations, fundamentally transforming both offensive and defensive cyber-capabilities. The timeline is not years, it is months.”
The agencies also urged business chiefs to “prioritise foundational cybersecurity practices and controls”. They warned: “Those that do not will face growing operational and strategic disadvantage.”
Anthropic previously said Mythos Preview was too dangerous to release because it could easily find serious flaws in software. Fable and Mythos 5 are commercial versions with guardrails on them.
Anthropic created an industry group, made up of tech titans including Apple and Microsoft, to probe Mythos so they can fix any issues.
The UK’s AI Security Institute (AISI) recently called Mythos Preview a “step-up” in AI that could carry out a cyberattack from start to finish. The institute also reckons the new ChatGPT-5.5 model “reaches a similar level of performance on our cyber-evaluations” as Mythos.
Adam Beaumont, AISI’s interim director, warned: “Two years ago, that finding probably would have sounded quite wild. I think today it sounds sobering. In two more years, it will be routine.”