Japan launches AI security task force amid Anthropic Mythos cyber threat fears

Japan has announced plans to establish a security task force to address AI-powered cybersecurity threats posing to global financial systems, Finance Minister Satsuki Katayama said on Friday.

The decision to set up the task force was taken at a meeting involving the Bank of Japan, Financial Services Agency, National Cybersecurity Office and the country’s top three banks.

"I told the meeting ​that this is a crisis that is already at hand, ​and similar concerns were also voiced by the financial industry," Katayama said.

The move comes after the world’s prestigious financial institutions, including IMF and bank chiefs, have voiced concern regarding the unprecedented capabilities of Anthropic’s Claude Mythos Preview AI model.

Even the experts warn that Mythos is capable of not only identifying but also exploiting critically unknown vulnerabilities faster than companies can repair them. Such security can accelerate cyber attack in sectors such as banking as they rely on decades-old technology.

However, Katayama warned that the financial sector's deep interconnectedness and real-time nature allow issues to escalate far more quickly than in other industries. Consequently, a single cyberattack could trigger instant market volatility and a broader collapse in public confidence.

While global regulators across Asia, Europe, and the U.S. have urged banks to bolster their defences, no breaches related to the model have been reported yet.