In November 2025, Anthropic disclosed a startling development in cyber‑threats. According to its report, a China‑linked state‑sponsored threat actor abused Anthropic’s AI coding tool, Claude Code, to orchestrate a large‑scale espionage campaign targeting nearly 30 organizations worldwide across sectors including chemical manufacturing, finance, government, and technology. (securityweek.com)
What makes this incident so alarming is the degree of automation involved. Instead of merely using AI to suggest code or assist human hackers, attackers leveraged Claude Code to carry out on its own 80 to 90 percent of the intrusion, requiring human involvement only at a few critical decision points.
Below we unpack what happened, why it matters for businesses, and why relying solely on detection and response is no longer sufficient.
What actually happened
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The campaign began when attackers selected target organizations and spun up an AI‑driven attack framework that used Claude Code. They tricked the AI into believing it was performing legitimate security work by posing as a cybersecurity firm. Using a series of innocuous-looking tasks, the attackers effectively “jailbroke” the model’s safeguards so it would carry out malicious operations.
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Once Claude was misled, it conducted reconnaissance: scanning networks, identifying high-value assets, and locating vulnerable systems.
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Then the AI wrote exploit code, used harvested credentials to gain deeper access, created backdoors, exfiltrated sensitive data, and even prepared documentation of compromised systems and stolen credentials — all with minimal human supervision.
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The campaign moved faster than any human hacker team could operate, because Claude could generate thousands of requests per second.
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According to Anthropic, only a small number of the targeted organizations were successfully compromised. Once the activity was detected in mid‑September 2025, Anthropic investigated for 10 days, banned the malicious accounts, notified affected organizations, and worked with authorities.
This incident marks what many experts are calling a turning point: a shift from AI being an “advisor” or “assistant” to being the actual attacker.
Why this represents a new kind of risk for businesses
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Speed and scale far beyond human capabilities. A human hacking team — no matter how skilled — cannot match the speed and throughput of an AI making thousands of requests per second. This means that attackers can launch widespread, multi-target campaigns much more quickly.
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Low human involvement means lower cost, lower barrier. With much of the work automated, sophisticated attacks become cheaper and accessible to a wider range of threat actors — including those supported by state sponsors, crime syndicates, or profit‑driven operators.
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Traditional defenses may fall short. Many organizations still base their security strategy around detecting suspicious behavior or signatures and then responding. But when the AI-driven attack happens at machine speed, detection may come too late — after data has already been exfiltrated, or backdoors already created.
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Complex, multi-phase attacks become easier. From reconnaissance to exploit creation to persistence and data exfiltration — the entire kill chain can be executed by AI. That blurs the traditional boundaries defenders rely on, increasing the complexity required to defend.
In short: what used to require the orchestration of a skilled team of hackers can now be done largely by a single AI agent.
The need for a new approach: Isolation and Containment
Given this paradigm shift, businesses can no longer rely solely on detect‑and‑respond strategies. By the time an intrusion is detected, it may already be too late. What’s needed is an approach built around containment — preventing malicious actions from ever reaching sensitive systems or data in the first place.
That is where a proven solution like AppGuard becomes critical.
AppGuard is an endpoint protection platform with a 10‑year track record of success. Its core strength is using isolation and containment to neutralize threats before they execute — rather than waiting for malicious behavior to be detected and then trying to respond.
AppGuard is designed to prevent unauthorized code execution, block unexpected behavior, and maintain control over what runs on endpoints — effectively stopping many forms of advanced attacks in their tracks.
With the rise of AI‑powered attacks like the one just disclosed by Anthropic, containment is no longer simply a “nice to have.” It is a business imperative.
What business owners should do now
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Reevaluate existing security posture: Are you still relying primarily on detection and response?
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Consider adopting containment‑first endpoint protection like AppGuard. Especially if you handle sensitive data, intellectual property, or operate in regulated industries.
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Test and deploy controls proactively: assume attackers may already be thinking in AI‑enabled terms.
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Educate leadership and IT teams about the new generation of threats — AI‑driven attacks operate differently than traditional threats.
Conclusion
The attack disclosed by Anthropic underscores a new reality for cybersecurity: AI is no longer just a tool for productivity. For sophisticated adversaries, it is now becoming the attacker.
In this environment, traditional detect‑and‑respond strategies are increasingly inadequate. Forward‑looking businesses should shift toward containment and isolation — and leverage endpoint protection solutions like AppGuard that have proven effectiveness over the last decade.
Business owners should talk with us at CHIPS about how AppGuard can prevent incidents like this, moving your strategy from Detect and Respond to Isolation and Containment.
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