AI tools raise security risks
Recent coverage flags that powerful new AI models can give bad actors a roadmap for system exploitation, turning model capabilities into an expanded attack surface. Enterprise reports and investigations show AI‑driven discovery tools can expose vulnerabilities across infrastructure, which matters if your product relies on third‑party AI or exposes longitudinal health data. (pbs.org (cio.com (cbsnews.com))
A modern artificial intelligence model can do the same first step a human hacker does: read huge piles of code, network maps, and bug reports, then point to the weak door instead of the strong one. Anthropic’s new model, Mythos, was described by PBS as powerful enough that the company limited access instead of releasing it broadly. (pbs.org) That changes the shape of cyberattacks because finding a flaw is usually the slow part. If a model can shrink days of reconnaissance into minutes, the bottleneck moves from “where is the hole” to “who gets there first.” (pbs.org) Anthropic is testing Mythos through a program called Project Glasswing instead of opening it to the public. CBS News reported that Amazon, Apple, Cisco, JPMorgan Chase, and Nvidia are among the companies using it to probe their own systems before criminals get similar tools. (cbsnews.com) The basic idea is simple: use one machine to act like an intruder so defenders can patch the gap first. It is the digital version of hiring a locksmith to try your front door, your windows, and your garage before a burglar does. (cbsnews.com) This is not just about one flashy model. CIO said the Zscaler ThreatLabz 2026 Artificial Intelligence Security Report analyzed 989.3 billion artificial intelligence and machine learning transactions from January through December 2025, which shows these systems are already woven into everyday company work. (cio.com, zerotrust.cio.com) Zscaler also said enterprise artificial intelligence adoption jumped 91% in 2025. When companies add that many new tools that fast, each chatbot, coding assistant, and document agent becomes another place where data can leak or permissions can be abused. (zerotrust.cio.com) Security teams use the phrase “attack surface” for the total number of doors, windows, and vents an attacker can test. Artificial intelligence expands that surface in two directions at once: companies expose more systems to models, and attackers get better software for mapping those systems. (cio.com) The old rules still matter more than the new hype. CIO’s reporting says the best defenses are still least privilege, tight access controls, and standard information security discipline, because an artificial intelligence agent with broad permissions can move through a network the same way an overprivileged employee account can. (cio.com) That is why third-party tools are part of the story, not a side note. If a hospital, insurer, or health app sends years of patient records into an outside model, the risk is no longer just the hospital’s own servers but also the vendor’s model, storage, logs, and access rules. (cio.com) Anthropic has already said one of its other systems was used by Chinese hackers in a 2025 cyberespionage operation, according to CBS News. That does not mean every model becomes a weapon, but it does show the line between “helpful assistant” and “operational tool” is now thin enough that major companies are treating frontier models like critical infrastructure. (cbsnews.com, cbsnews.com)
