Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman convened a high-level meeting with heads of banks to assess emerging cybersecurity risks linked to advanced artificial intelligence models, amid global concerns over Anthropic's Claude Mythos system and its potential implications for financial data security.

During the meeting, Sitharaman asked banks to take all necessary pre-emptive measures to secure their IT systems, safeguard customer data, and protect monetary resources.

"It was advised that a robust mechanism for real-time threat intelligence sharing may be established among banks, @IndianCERT and other relevant agencies so that emerging threats are identified early and disseminated across the ecosystem without delay," the finance ministry said in a post on X.

Banks were further advised to immediately report any suspicious activity or cyber incident to the relevant authorities, including Indian Computer Emergency Response Team (CERT-In), and to maintain close coordination with all agencies concerned, it said.

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These recommendations were given during a high-level meeting chaired by the finance minister, along with the Minister for Electronics and Information Technology Ashwini Vaishnaw, with banks and key stakeholders with a view to assess the potential impact of emerging threats linked to recent developments in AI models, particularly the possibility of such technologies being misused to weaponize software vulnerabilities, the meeting assumed significance in view of development of the Claude Mythos AI model by Anthropic, claiming that it has found vulnerabilities in many major operating systems.

In the meeting, the finance minister called on the Indian Banks' Association (IBA) to establish a unified institutional framework to react quickly and efficiently to any similar threats.

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FM also instructed banks to collaborate with top cybersecurity experts and specialized organizations to consistently enhance their defensive and surveillance capabilities.

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Recognizing the efforts made by banks in enhancing cybersecurity systems and protocols, she stressed that the character of the emerging threat posed by the latest AI Model is unprecedented, necessitating a significant level of vigilance, readiness, and improved coordination among financial institutions and banks.