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NSA using Anthropic's Mythos for cyber attacks

78 pointsby jawigginsyesterday at 8:33 PM25 commentsview on HN

Comments

maerF0x0yesterday at 9:52 PM

I am all about NSA using this stuff as "Defense" but my main concern is their long track record of unconstitutional warrantless, or abuse of shadow courts, to surveil the people they're supposed to be protecting, and for nefarious purposes like spying on ex girlfriends [1]

[1] - https://www.reuters.com/article/world/uk/nsa-staff-used-spy-...

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tristanjyesterday at 9:59 PM

The FT article has a lack of evidence of an actual operation. It claims Mythos is being used for "offensive cyber operations" in the first paragraph, but doesn't give a source supporting this claim. The lone piece of evidence given says Mythos "would be useful for" infiltrating China or Iran, which is a hypothetical, not evidence of an actual operation.

None of that means the NSA isn't doing offensive work, my issue is that FT claims Mythos is involved in active foreign attacks based on a single anonymous source saying it "would be useful."

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thrillyesterday at 9:30 PM

That headline is doing a lot of heavy making-it-up summarization.

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LarsKrimiyesterday at 11:17 PM

This feels like a stupid idea, but it's not my tax money being wasted on it (yet).

An AI being used for offensive purposes would be so easy to counter due to Brandolini's Law. A much simpler AI could probably easily create dumb honey pot systems that looked like real systems with holes in them to lead more advanced and expensive systems on a wild goose chase.

Suddenly an AI creating security vulnerabilities is a core part of a future cyber defence strategy. Surely someone must be doing that already

diwankyesterday at 9:30 PM

""" It remains unclear whether Anthropic’s engineers are assisting the NSA in active operations. However, one person close to the situation said Mythos would be useful for infiltrating the networks of nations such as China or Iran. """

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john_strinlaiyesterday at 9:48 PM

while this article is frustratingly light on details, it should be no surprise the nsa would use anything and everything that could give them an edge.

although, i am of the belief that it is safe to assume whatever the general public has access to, the government is 3+ years ahead. i recall john kiriakou saying as much in several interviews.

sigmaryesterday at 9:56 PM

Not unexpected. Is anyone tracking which episode we're on in the Pantheon timeline?

Computer0yesterday at 9:48 PM

The only relevant except: "The San Francisco-based company had installed about half a dozen staff within the NSA as so-called forward-deployed engineers to guide the use of the technology and customise models for specific applications, two people familiar with the arrangement said.

It remains unclear whether Anthropic’s engineers are assisting the NSA in active operations. However, one person close to the situation said Mythos would be useful for infiltrating the networks of nations such as China or Iran.

“The best way to build a good defence is to build a good attack,” said a person close to Anthropic, who argued that adversaries are probably building their own AI-driven offensive technology. “If [Mythos] is not used to build attack agents, adversaries will find a way to do it.”"

reducesufferingtoday at 12:54 AM

But HN told me it’s just a marketing stunt

aussieguy1234today at 12:23 AM

I'd like to see Ukraine using it against Russia, if they're not doing it already.

maerF0x0yesterday at 9:25 PM

How to get past this paywall ?

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