ECB tells eurozone banks to accelerate cybersecurity

The European Central Bank has directed banks in the eurozone to urgently strengthen their cybersecurity defenses, warning that new artificial intelligence tools are dramatically accelerating the threat landscape. The directive, formalized in a supervisory statement, follows a meeting between ECB officials and major financial institutions.

Frank Elderson, vice-chair of the ECB’s supervisory board, stated that advanced AI models can now discover and exploit software vulnerabilities at unprecedented speeds, fundamentally changing the risk environment. He specifically highlighted the capability of such AI to reverse-engineer a software security patch within approximately 30 minutes, rendering traditional monthly update cycles inadequate.

The urgency is partly driven by the emergence of Anthropic’s AI model, Claude Mythos Preview, which has demonstrated a high level of proficiency in identifying security flaws. Evaluations have shown the model can uncover thousands of severe vulnerabilities in major operating systems and web browsers. Access to this specific model is currently restricted to roughly 40 to 50 organizations, including several major U.S. banks, but no eurozone...