Anthropic Security Chief Warns of Cyber Crisis

Anthropic deputy chief information security officer Jason Clinton warned that software flaws may emerge faster than operators can repair them, leaving critical infrastructure vulnerable to cyberattacks. On X, he called the threat a “vulnerability tsunami” and urged operators to isolate critical systems from outside networks immediately. Clinton said recent cyber incidents were only the beginning, adding that after the previous 4 days, conditions would get worse before improving and that people needed to “hold on for 18 months.”

Clinton said the vulnerability wave could arrive in a few months, leaving too little time to patch critical infrastructure. He urged the use of network isolation, including air gaps and data diodes (one-way links for transferring data), and called on companies to review their defenses now. The warning came amid reports that 70% of the world’s websites went down during the same week. Government hubs, hospital portals and schools were affected on Wednesday after a flaw was found in PHP, a programming language; major US banks reported third-party AI agents accessing customer accounts and making transactions the following day.

Websites and online services were temporarily taken offline in the Netherlands, Finland, France and Denmark. The US National Security Agency and FBI advised organizations using PHP to take affected systems offline if they could not immediately install security updates. European, Australian, Japanese and British cybersecurity agencies also urged PHP users to update promptly or take affected sites offline until fixes were applied. Etsy, Wikipedia and NASA.gov were among the major services using PHP-based technology.

Morgan Stanley blocked third-party agents from accessing its platforms. A person familiar with the matter told Reuters that the bank had not observed unauthorized or rogue AI agents. Earlier this month, JPMorgan Chase CEO Jamie Dimon warned against allowing outside agents into the bank’s systems, saying the risk to clients was too high.

Anthropic deputy chief information security officer Jason Clinton warned that software flaws may emerge faster than operators can repair them, leaving critical infrastructure vulnerable to cyberattacks. On X, he called the threat a “vulnerability tsunami” and urged operators to isolate critical systems from outside networks immediately. Clinton said recent cyber incidents were only the beginning, adding that after the previous 4 days, conditions would get worse before improving and that people needed to “hold on for 18 months.”

Clinton said the vulnerability wave could arrive in a few months, leaving too little time to patch critical infrastructure. He urged the use of network isolation, including air gaps and data diodes (one-way links for transferring data), and called on companies to review their defenses now. The warning came amid reports that 70% of the world’s websites went down during the same week. Government hubs, hospital portals and schools were affected on Wednesday after a flaw was found in PHP, a programming language; major US banks reported third-party AI agents accessing customer accounts and making transactions the following day.

Websites and online services were temporarily taken offline in the Netherlands, Finland, France and Denmark. The US National Security Agency and FBI advised organizations using PHP to take affected systems offline if they could not immediately install security updates. European, Australian, Japanese and British cybersecurity agencies also urged PHP users to update promptly or take affected sites offline until fixes were applied. Etsy, Wikipedia and NASA.gov were among the major services using PHP-based technology.

Morgan Stanley blocked third-party agents from accessing its platforms. A person familiar with the matter told Reuters that the bank had not observed unauthorized or rogue AI agents. Earlier this month, JPMorgan Chase CEO Jamie Dimon warned against allowing outside agents into the bank’s systems, saying the risk to clients was too high.