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- Executives and AI analysts alike are warning of major cybersecurity threats.
- Experts say critical systems, from energy and water to healthcare, may be especially exposed.
- Here's what smart people are saying about the biggest threats to the internet at the moment.
CEOs and AI analysts alike are sounding the warning on cybersecurity vulnerabilities that could not only expose large swaths of personal data but also allow bad actors to wreak havoc on the internet.
On Wednesday, OpenAI said its agents helped detect severe cybersecurity vulnerabilities. Two "critical" flaws were found in the infrastructure of PHP, an open-source programming language that 70% of websites use.
Here's what smart people are saying about the biggest cybersecurity threat of the moment.
Anthropic's deputy security chief, Jason Clinton, warns that a "vulnerability tsunami" is coming — and says critical infrastructure hasn't caught up.
Clinton posted on X on Wednesday about the need to "patch critical infrastructure" before core network vulnerabilities get exploited. On Thursday, he issued another warning to companies.
"As bad as things have gotten in the past 4 days, they are going to get a lot worse before they get better," he wrote.
"Security leaders, never let a crisis go to waste: please go to your boards and ask for help right now. not for ai, for the basics. (we need to hold on for ~18 months.)," he added.
Andrew Curran, a prominent AI analyst, weighed in on several cybersecurity threats from Wednesday to Thursday.
"Regarding potential attacks on energy, food, and water infrastructure, the threat is quite real. Someone is currently probing infra and feeling it out, it is an active threat. Even a little preparation can be helpful, just in case," Curran wrote on Wednesday in response to an NSA cybersecurity advisory about threat actors.
On Thursday, Curran also highlighted a hack of Quest Diagnostics, which he said serves "roughly half" of the US's hospitals and physicians.
In February, Matt Shumer, the former CEO of Hyperwrite, published a viral essay on his website titled "Something Big Is Happening," in which he warned of large-scale disruptions wrought by AI that could upend the world order.
Shumer published another essay on Thursday on his website and LinkedIn, this time titled "The Internet Is Under Attack. Here's How to Protect Yourself and Your Family."
"Right now, as you read this, swarms of AI agents are likely trying to break into the websites you use. Not one of them. Many of them," Shumer wrote. "We are in the middle of the biggest cybersecurity moment in years."
This is what could happen, per Shumer's post:
Your information leaks, so scammers know your name, birthday, address and bank, and their calls and texts sound real. Your accounts get taken over through some site you used once, years ago, with the same password you use everywhere. And the things you depend on, like an app, a pharmacy or a store's website, go down for days. To be clear: this is ongoing, but the worst-case scenarios people are most scared of haven't happened. I hope they never do. But it's better to be safe than sorry, especially since this is going to keep happening.
Shumer also outlined four ways people can protect themselves, including updating all their software and staying off sites they're unfamiliar with while companies and websites alike make their security updates.
He also advises that people protect their bank accounts by being extra cautious about any and all codes and links that they receive. People should also "close the doors you aren't using" by unplugging smart gadgets and deleting apps that aren't being utilized.
"Every connected thing is another way in," Shumer wrote.
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Marc Benioff agreed with Anthropic's Jason Clinton in an X post on Thursday.
"Jason is 100% right. Code red," Benioff wrote, along with a red alarm emoji.