Five Eyes joint statement on AI models taking down governments and businesses
Five Eyes cyber security agencies issued a joint statement warning that AI models could be used by malicious actors to conduct cyber operations threatening critical infrastructure, governments, and businesses. The statement outlines risks and recommends security measures to defend against AI-enabled threats.
Background
- Five Eyes is an intelligence alliance of five countries: Australia, Canada, New Zealand, the UK, and the US. These nations regularly coordinate on security and cybersecurity matters.
- This joint statement warns that AI models — particularly advanced large language models (LLMs) — are being used by state-sponsored actors to automate cyberattacks (e.g., reconnaissance, writing malware, social engineering at scale) against critical infrastructure, businesses, and government systems.
- The agencies specifically call out "the use of AI to take down governments and businesses," signaling that AI lowers the technical barrier for sophisticated attacks and makes them harder to detect.
- The statement is notable because it comes from the operational cybersecurity agencies of these countries (e.g., CISA in the US, NCSC in the UK), not just intelligence agencies — meaning they are issuing practical guidance to defenders.
- It reflects growing concern that offensive AI capabilities are outpacing defensive AI defenses, and that the same commercial LLMs used for legitimate purposes are being weaponized by adversaries like Russia, China, Iran, and North Korea.