New Anthropic AI tool unlocks capabilities no one has found before, says cyber expert John Carlin

Summary

• John Carlin describes cybersecurity as a multi-trillion dollar problem due to persistent attacks from crooks, nation states, and terrorists.
• He cites a Cisco report: in 2025, two of the top ten exploits used vulnerabilities over ten years old, one-third of the top 100 were over a decade old, and 40% of exploited vulnerabilities are too old to patch, requiring new systems.
• Anthropic's AI tool, Mytheos, can find previously unknown vulnerabilities in every major operating system and web browser, vulnerabilities that have existed for decades but were undetected.
• This tool democratizes attacks by allowing average users to exploit flaws, increasing the speed and scale of potential damage, likened to a "genie out of the bottle."
• Carlin points to Glasswing as a responsible example where cybersecurity companies use the tool proactively to strengthen defenses before public release.
• He stresses the need for a new framework to patch vulnerabilities at scale, highlighting the risk to small and medium businesses that lack resources.
• The host observes that cybersecurity stocks are selling off despite the heightened need for proactive security measures, implying a market contradiction.
• Geopolitical threats from Iran and Russia, with explicit warnings of cyber attacks, underscore the urgency for enhanced defenses.
• Carlin argues that having U.S. or allied companies like Anthropic discover vulnerabilities first is crucial to sounding the alarm and facilitating repairs.