---
title: "Introducing the Anthropic Cyber Mission"
description: "State-sponsored adversaries have gained footholds in critical infrastructure such as power grids, water systems, and transportation networks, while open-source software faces increasing vulnerability exploits. To support defenders, Anthropic launches the Cyber Mission, a long-term commitment that includes the Critical Infrastructure Defense Program and OSS Scanner. The Critical Infrastructure Defense Program provides frontier Claude models, on-site engineers, and threat research to trusted providers like Accenture, CrowdStrike, and Rockwell Automation to secure operational technology. OSS Scanner offers open-source projects free regular security scans from Anthropic’s strongest models, and the expanded Cyber Verification Program gives more defenders access to advanced cyber capabilities. The mission aims to reduce cyber risk over years through collaboration, but challenges remain as verifying and fixing vulnerabilities is slow and depends on people."
---

# Introducing the Anthropic Cyber Mission

[Anthropic](https://yomu.fyi/company/anthropic) · Anthropic · Oct 8, 2026

**Type:** Announcement

## Summary

State-sponsored adversaries have gained footholds in critical infrastructure such as power grids, water systems, and transportation networks, while open-source software faces increasing vulnerability exploits. To support defenders, Anthropic launches the Cyber Mission, a long-term commitment that includes the Critical Infrastructure Defense Program and OSS Scanner. The Critical Infrastructure Defense Program provides frontier Claude models, on-site engineers, and threat research to trusted providers like Accenture, CrowdStrike, and Rockwell Automation to secure operational technology. OSS Scanner offers open-source projects free regular security scans from Anthropic’s strongest models, and the expanded Cyber Verification Program gives more defenders access to advanced cyber capabilities. The mission aims to reduce cyber risk over years through collaboration, but challenges remain as verifying and fixing vulnerabilities is slow and depends on people.

## Context

Frontier AI models are widely available to attackers, lowering the cost of exploiting vulnerabilities, while state-sponsored adversaries have spent years gaining footholds in critical infrastructure. Defenders of critical infrastructure and open-source software face severe resource shortages and slow remediation cycles, as operational technology often cannot be taken offline to patch, leaving vulnerabilities unresolved for years. Verifying, prioritizing, and fixing security findings remains challenging and depends on people.

## Approach / What changed

The Anthropic Cyber Mission launches the Critical Infrastructure Defense Program, which provides frontier Claude models, on-site engineers, and threat research to trusted providers such as Accenture, CrowdStrike, and Rockwell Automation to secure operational technology. It also launches OSS Scanner, offering open-source projects free regular security scans from Anthropic’s strongest models. The Cyber Verification Program is expanded to give more defenders access to models. The Defender Advantage Fund supports open-source security efforts.

## Takeaways

- The cost of exploiting vulnerabilities has dropped due to AI, while verifying and fixing them remains slow and dependent on human effort, with operational technology fixes sometimes taking decades.
- Anthropic’s Cyber Mission is a long-term initiative that expects success to take years and requires collaboration across public and private sectors.
- Securing operational technology is specialized work because equipment is proprietary, changes carry risk, and systems often cannot be taken offline for patching.

## FAQ

### What does the Critical Infrastructure Defense Program provide?

It provides frontier Claude models, on-site engineers, and threat research to trusted providers such as Accenture, CrowdStrike, and Rockwell Automation. These providers help secure operational technology in power grids, water systems, and transportation networks.

### How can open-source projects get free security scans?

Open-source projects can enroll in OSS Scanner, which offers regular security scans powered by Anthropic's strongest models at no cost. The scans are funded in part by the Defender Advantage Fund.

### Why is fixing vulnerabilities in operational technology so hard?

Operational technology systems like power grid controllers are built to last for decades and often cannot be taken offline to patch. Equipment is proprietary, changes are risky, and a mistake can shut down a plant, so known vulnerabilities can remain unresolved for years.

**Tags:** [AI](https://yomu.fyi/topic/ai), [Critical Infrastructure](https://yomu.fyi/topic/critical-infrastructure), [Cybersecurity](https://yomu.fyi/topic/cybersecurity), [Open Source](https://yomu.fyi/topic/open-source)

- Source: [Anthropic](https://www.anthropic.com/news/anthropic-cyber-mission)
- Source URL: https://www.anthropic.com/news/anthropic-cyber-mission
- Ingested by Yomu: 2026-10-08T21:00:17.000Z

[Read original post](https://www.anthropic.com/news/anthropic-cyber-mission)