Anthropic reported that Claude was used in cyber attacks and surveillance activities

In a threat intelligence report released on Thursday, Anthropic stated that Russian and Chinese users are leveraging its AI model Claude to automate cyberattacks. Among them, a Russian operator codenamed "JackPoterz" has automated most parts of the attack chain through a customized AI-driven workflow, targeting over 20 organizations, including government departments and intelligence agencies, as well as embassies and diplomatic missions in Ukraine and several European countries.

Chinese users are using Claude as the engineering and orchestration layer for vulnerability research, with one workflow producing more than a dozen potential zero-day vulnerabilities in network device firmware within a month. Anthropic pointed out that AI is changing the economics of cyberattacks, allowing a single operator to complete an intrusion in two to three hours and handle dozens of victims in parallel.

Additionally, the report revealed that a suspected independent consultant based in Bamako, collaborating with Mali's national intelligence agency, has used Claude as the primary engineering force to build a large-scale domestic surveillance system covering approximately 25 million SIM cards across all three mobile operators in the country. This system is locally deployed and operates using local models, with software design and engineering support provided by Claude, enabling the generation of intelligence profiles on phone numbers without the need for court warrants.