Japan’s Finance Minister announced Friday that the country will establish a specialized cybersecurity team to protect its banking sector from emerging threats related to artificial intelligence technology.
Finance Minister Satsuki Katayama revealed the plan during a high-level meeting that included representatives from Japan’s Financial Services Agency, central bank, cybersecurity officials, the nation’s three largest banks, and the Japan Exchange Group.
“I told the meeting that this is a crisis that is already at hand, and similar concerns were also voiced by the financial industry,” Katayama stated to news media.
The urgency stems from revelations about Anthropic’s new Mythos AI system, which during testing reportedly discovered “thousands” of significant security weaknesses across all major computer operating systems and internet browsers. This discovery has sparked widespread alarm about existing cybersecurity protections.
Security specialists are particularly concerned because the AI technology can locate and take advantage of unknown security gaps more quickly than organizations can patch them. This speed advantage could dramatically increase cyber threats against banking institutions, which depend on complex, interconnected computer networks that often include older technology systems.
Banking regulators across Asia, Europe, and the United States have already issued advisories urging financial institutions to strengthen their security measures and emergency response plans. However, no actual security breaches connected to this AI model have been documented so far.
Minister Katayama emphasized that the financial sector’s highly connected nature and round-the-clock operations create unique vulnerabilities where problems can escalate more rapidly than in other industries.
“Because of this, a cyberattack can immediately spill over into market disruptions and undermine confidence,” she explained.
