"The Timeline Is Months, Not Years": Five Eyes Warns of AI-Powered Cyberattacks
Their statement comes at a time when AI lab Anthropic’s Mythos has raised concerns about its potential misuse.
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[Image: Chetan Jha/MITSMR Middle East]
The intelligence alliance of the United States, United Kingdom, Canada, Australia, and New Zealand, commonly known as Five Eyes, has raised concerns over rapidly advancing artificial intelligence, which can supercharge offensive hacking capabilities.
In a three-page statement, the alliance called for urgent action to confront the threat.
“Frontier AI models are anticipated to exceed current industry expectations, fundamentally transforming both offensive and defensive cyber capabilities,” they said.
“The timeline is not years, it is months.”
Their statement, which refrained from divulging details and focused on restating core cybersecurity advice, comes at a time when AI lab Anthropic’s Mythos, capable of autonomously finding and exploiting software vulnerabilities end-to-end with no human involvement, has raised concerns about its potential misuse for launching cyberattacks or assisting in creating dangerous biological or chemical agents.
While impressive on an unprecedented scale, the model has since been disabled for all users after US authorities raised security concerns following its public release.
The Five Eyes officials have urged the use of AI “to strengthen defense,” for example, by identifying weaknesses sooner or responding more quickly to incidents.
“Success will come from getting the basics right, acting quickly, and integrating cybersecurity into core business strategy. Those that do not will face growing operational and strategic disadvantage,” they added.
The alliance has further suggested that leaders abide by three core principles:
- Secure-by-design and secure-by-default must become standard practice – not an aspiration.
- Resilience cannot depend on a single solution or technology. Defense in depth remains essential.
- As AI systems evolve, new and previously unknown vulnerabilities will emerge, including zero‑day vulnerabilities.
Leaders and experts should, to reduce risky exposures, limit unnecessary system access and external connectivity, prioritize security updates to manage risks, revisit legacy systems that are easy targets, review and strengthen identity and access controls, and prepare for breaches before they strike.
