DFS Secretary Nagaraju says banks must be prepared if Anthropic's Mythos goes public

DFS Secretary M Nagaraju has urged banks to embed risk management into their core culture and prepare for emerging cyber threats linked to Anthropic’s “Mythos” AI model.

India’s banking system must embed risk management into its core culture as emerging technologies such as Anthropic’s Mythos AI model raise fresh cybersecurity concerns globally, Department of Financial Services (DFS) Secretary M Nagaraju said while addressing bankers at an Indian Banks’ Association (IBA) summit on risk management.

Banks Need to Buckle Up

“Risk management should be embedded in the culture of every bank,” Nagaraju said, while noting that the role of banks would become “more critical” as India continues to grow despite geopolitical challenges.

Also Read: Explained: What is Mythos AI and why it is worrying banks and regulators

The DFS Secretary said corporate lending has also picked up alongside growth in MSME and agriculture credit, underscoring the need for stronger oversight and preparedness across the financial system.

Flagging concerns around Mythos, Nagaraju said the AI model had triggered significant cybersecurity worries globally.

Global concerns around Mythos intensified after reports suggested the model could dramatically compress the time needed to discover software vulnerabilities and potentially enable sophisticated cyberattacks on critical infrastructure and financial systems.

He added that the IBA Chairman Challa Sreenivasulu Setty had been tasked with ensuring banks are adequately prepared in case Mythos is publicly released.

The remarks come amid heightened scrutiny of Anthropic’s unreleased “Claude Mythos” AI model, which has alarmed governments, regulators and financial institutions over its reported capability to autonomously identify and exploit software vulnerabilities.

Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on April 24 said banks need to continuously upgrade systems, strengthen cybersecurity and enhance customer protection to deal with risks, including “Mythos,” an advanced artificial intelligence model that has raised concerns in financial and technology circles.

Concerns Over Mythos

The Reserve Bank of India was also reported to be in discussions with global regulators and banks to assess risks associated with the model and strengthen coordinated response mechanisms.

Market regulator Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) has separately cautioned market participants about risks arising from frontier AI tools, including potential cyber vulnerabilities and misuse scenarios linked to advanced generative AI systems.

Global concerns around Mythos intensified after reports suggested the model could dramatically compress the time needed to discover software vulnerabilities and potentially enable sophisticated cyberattacks on critical infrastructure and financial systems.

Anthropic has restricted access to a limited set of organisations while governments and regulators assess the implications.

 

Also Read: Anthropic’s Mythos AI sparks global bank alerts over cyber risk