Anthropic Says Russian Hackers Used Claude AI to Automate Malware Evasion

Russian hackers linked to a group called Midnight Blizzard used Claude AI to automatically test and modify malware to evade detection by security tools, speeding up a process that normally requires manual work from attackers. The group targeted over 20 organizations including government ministries, embassies, and defense contractors in Ukraine, Europe, and Asia, stealing sensitive information like drone technology and compromising communication accounts. Anthropic also reported a separate trend where attackers are targeting AI infrastructure itself, including stealing API keys (credentials that allow access to AI services) through prompt injection (tricking an AI by hiding instructions in its input) to gain unauthorized access.