CERT-In has reportedly gained access to Anthropic’s Mythos AI model. India’s cybersecurity watchdog will begin using the capabilities of Anthropic’s most powerful AI model in a cautious and calibrated manner to evaluate how it can be used, citing IT ministry sources, news agency PTI reported. CERT-In is set to start experimenting with Mythos, but through a “slow process”. “We will slowly route anything we want to test. So it will be a slow process,” the source said.
According to the news report, the source noted the “cure should not be worse than the problem”, referring to the recent cybersecurity events affecting governments, private organisations, banking companies and more globally. For the unversed, Mythos is available to a small set of organisations due to concerns about the misuse of its powerful capabilities. The AI model is trained to specialise in cybersecurity, reasoning and other complex research-based tasks.
Working under the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology, the Indian agency will initially understand the model’s capabilities, its potential applications and associated risks ahead of wider use. The Indian Computer Emergency Response Team (CERT-In) is expected to utilise the model to identify cyber vulnerabilities and strengthen its response to possible cyber threats in the future. In this direction, it is expected to identify weak systems and recommend patches, CNBC reported.
However, the model’s cloud-based capabilities is a point of concern for the government as the data is sent to the cloud of Anthropic for processing. CERT-In’s current AI models can deliver 80-85 per cent of the capabilities of Mythos, the report added. This update comes after TRAI’s recent proposal for sector-specific AI guidelines.
The Telecom Regulatory Authority of India recently disseminated a draft framework for AI use in the telecom sector that would require telecom companies to establish dedicated safety and governance committees and report AI-related incidents to the concerned authorities. Meanwhile, the IT ministry is reportedly in the process of releasing a consultation paper on AI rules covering AI safety, deepfakes and more. The government is said to be working closely with sectors that may be at greater risk due to AI use.