ECB urges banks to brace quickly for AI-assisted cyberattacks

Published 13 May, 2026 02:52pm 1 min read

European Central Bank board member Frank Elderson on Wednesday urged banks ​in the euro area to quickly prepare ‌for potential cyberattacks launched with the help of Anthropic’s Mythos AI model or similar tools.

Elderson, who is Vice ​Chair of the ECB’s bank supervision arm, ​said in an interview in the ECB publication ⁠Supervision Newsletter that euro area banks currently ​do not have access to Mythos.

“Lack of access ​is not an excuse for inaction. On the contrary, it makes it even more critical that banks step up ​and act now,” he said.

Reuters reported this ​week that large US banks, which have been granted early ‌access ⁠to Mythos, are rushing to fix scores of data system weaknesses flagged by the tool.

Mythos is viewed by cybersecurity experts as a significant challenge to ​the, prompting a series of warnings from regulators and policymakers.

Elderson ​warned that banks need to brace ​for ⁠future AI models that enable even more aggressive cyberattacks.

“We need to be able to deal with ⁠ever ​more capable future models that ​could be released in relatively quick succession,” he said.

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