Asia regulators monitor Anthropic's Mythos for potential banking risks

By Scott Murdoch and Yantoultra Ngui

SYDNEY/SINGAPORE/HONG ‌KONG, April 20 (Reuters) - ​Some Asian ​financial regulators said on Monday they were taking measures to address the risks posed by Anthropic's artificial intelligence model Mythos, whose vast capabilities to code at a high level ‌have given it a potentially unprecedented ability to identify cybersecurity vulnerabilities.

The Hong Kong Monetary ⁠Authority (HKMA) said it has engaged with major banks and is highly vigilant to the evolving AI-driven cyber threats - such as ‌Mythos - and is about to bring ‌forward a new framework to address the challenge.

The city's de facto central bank and banking regulator told Reuters it will introduce a Cyber Resilience Testing Framework focused on augmenting banks' response and recovery ​capabilities, which will help ensure a robust data system for the sector.

HKMA will also form a new dedicated public-private sector taskforce to examine, monitor and respond to AI-driven cyber risks.

"Some banks are also assessing ⁠additional mitigation measures in response to these evolving threats," the regulator said in a statement.

A spokesperson for the Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC) ​said it was closely monitoring the usage of Mythos along with other regulators to assess possible market implications.

"ASIC engages closely with other regulators, government agencies and ​the financial sector to understand and respond to changing technologies," ‌the spokesperson said, adding that it expects financial services licensees to "be on the front foot" to safeguard customers and clients.

Meanwhile, the Australian Prudential Regulation Authority (APRA), the country's ⁠banking regulator, said it would "continue to assess the implications of these technological advancements to ensure the ongoing safety and resilience of the financial system".

South Korea's Financial Supervisory Service (FSS) said it held a meeting with information security officials from ⁠financial firms last week to review Mythos-related risks.

South Korea's Yonhap news agency reported the Financial Services Commission (FSC) held an emergency ​meeting on Wednesday with chief information security officers from the FSS, banks and insurers to review the risks, citing unnamed industry sources.

The FSC was not immediately available for comment.

Separately, Singapore's central bank, the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS), said that ‌advances in AI could speed up the discovery and exploitation of software vulnerabilities in IT systems.

"Financial institutions need to redouble efforts to strengthen their security defences, ‌proactively identify and close vulnerabilities, and raise vigilance on cyber hygiene, including timely security patching," it said, adding that ⁠it was coordinating with the Cyber Security ‌Agency of Singapore to support critical ​infrastructure operators.

(Reporting by Scott Murdoch in Sydney, Heekyong Yang in Seoul; Xinghui Kok and Yantoultra Ngui in Singapore, Selena Li in Hong Kong; Editing by Jacqueline Wong and ‌Alexander Smith)

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