Beware When Withdrawing Money from an ATM

Beware when withdrawing money from an ATM. Cybersecurity experts are warning that hackers are using an artificial intelligence (AI) tool to breach bank computer systems and drain cash from ATMs. The Bank of England is preparing to hold urgent discussions with leading creditors amid growing concerns about the cyber threats posed by AI systems to the global financial system. UK banks will be given early access to test their cyber resilience against Claude Mythos, an advanced AI bot developed by Silicon Valley startup Anthropic. The technology company shocked the cybersecurity world this month by claiming that Claude Mythos has automatically discovered unknown security flaws in every major operating system and internet browser, some of which are up to 27 years old. This news has the potential to make all companies vulnerable to a new type of cyber attack that can be launched far faster than any human hacker. Anthropic claims its tool is so powerful that they are limiting access to just a few tech giants and global banks, giving them a chance to bolster their cybersecurity. Cybersecurity experts say banks are particularly vulnerable because, in many cases, they still rely on hardware that is decades old to handle most transactions. One system at high risk of cyber attacks is COBOL, the computer programming language that forms the backbone of modern banking, as quoted by VIVA from the This is Money website on Wednesday, 22 April 2026. This legacy software has been operational since the 1960s but remains widely used due to its proven reliability and banks’ reluctance to replace or modernise their core systems that process trillions of pounds in transactions daily. Shares in computing giant IBM suffered their largest one-day drop in 25 years after Anthropic announced a new AI tool with COBOL capabilities. The software is still deeply embedded in the US tech giant’s mainframe systems.