A top European banking regulator has issued a warning that advanced artificial intelligence models, such as Anthropic's Mythos, "present a systemic risk to the financial system," setting a strict four-month deadline for banks to prepare for cybersecurity threats.
Claudia Buch, the chief banking supervisor for the eurozone, sent letters to 110 banks on Tuesday, instructing them to develop a "comprehensive action plan" by the end of October to address cyber risks posed by the most sophisticated AI models.
Buch, who chairs the European Central Bank's supervisory board, stated that the plan should include "concrete measures to strengthen relevant controls, allocate necessary resources, define roles and responsibilities, and set an implementation timeline."
In a separate cautionary statement released on Tuesday, the European Systemic Risk Board (ESRB), which monitors and safeguards the eurozone's financial system, indicated that modern 人工智能 models could undermine financial stability across the region. The board noted the latest technology can identify and exploit system vulnerabilities with "speed, scale, and accuracy far exceeding previous AI models." This signifies a "paradigm shift in cybersecurity," as IT weaknesses can now be "weaponized" within "minutes or hours."
The regulators' warnings did not specifically name Mythos but referred broadly to "advanced artificial intelligence models."
Consequently, the institutions are urging banks to swiftly bolster their IT security capabilities. In her letter, Buch emphasized that in the short term, banks must be capable of rapidly detecting and defending against large-scale attacks while ensuring their third-party IT service providers possess the same resilience. She added that, in the medium term, banks also need to improve their "cyber hygiene."
To accommodate the tight timeline, the ECB has postponed the submission deadline for its annual IT risk questionnaire. Banks now have until February of next year to submit their responses, instead of the original September deadline.
Buch stated in her letter, "Potential adjustments to other supervisory activities, such as on-site inspections or deep-dive reviews, will be considered on a case-by-case basis."
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