Anthropic reports on a Claude user: > We recently disrupted a sophisticated cybercriminal that used Claude Code to > commit large-scale theft and extortion of personal data. The actor targeted at > least 17 distinct organizations, including in healthcare, the emergency > services, and government and religious institutions. Rather than encrypt the > stolen information with traditional ransomware, the actor threatened to expose > the data publicly in order to attempt to extort victims into paying ransoms > that sometimes exceeded $500,000. > > The actor used AI to what we believe is an unprecedented degree. Claude Code > was used to automate reconnaissance, harvesting victims’ credentials, and > penetrating networks. Claude was allowed to make both tactical and strategic > decisions, such as deciding which data to exfiltrate, and how to craft > psychologically targeted extortion demands. Claude analyzed the exfiltrated > financial data to determine appropriate ransom amounts, and generated visually > alarming ransom notes that were displayed on victim machines...