--- title: Mythos uncovers crypto weaknesses that went unknown for... description: Anthropic's Mythos AI security model has identified weaknesses in two cryptographic systems, including HAWK, a post-quantum digital signature scheme currently... canonical: https://daily.dev/posts/mythos-uncovers-crypto-weaknesses-that-went-unknown-for-years-t5vilacsa twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:site: @dailydotdev og:type: website og:site_name: daily.dev og:title: Mythos uncovers crypto weaknesses that went unknown for years | daily.dev og:description: Anthropic's Mythos AI security model has identified weaknesses in two cryptographic systems, including HAWK, a post-quantum digital signature scheme currently... og:url: https://daily.dev/posts/mythos-uncovers-crypto-weaknesses-that-went-unknown-for-years-t5vilacsa og:image: https://api.daily.dev/og/posts/t5VILacsa.png og:image:alt: Mythos uncovers crypto weaknesses that went unknown for years og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 630 og:locale: en --- > ## Documentation Index > Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://daily.dev/llms.txt > Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further. # Mythos uncovers crypto weaknesses that went unknown for years **[Ars Technica](https://daily.dev/sources/arstechnica)** · 2 min read · 0 upvotes · 0 comments ## Summary Anthropic's Mythos AI security model has identified weaknesses in two cryptographic systems, including HAWK, a post-quantum digital signature scheme currently under NIST evaluation. The findings are incremental — they don't break any production cryptosystems but reveal methods to moderately reduce the computational work needed to defeat them. The tested versions were weakened challenge instances, not production-grade implementations, and the attacks would likely be infeasible outside testing environments. Despite the caveats around marketing hype, the results may signal meaningful AI-assisted advances in cryptanalysis. ## Full article daily.dev links to this article rather than hosting it. Read it at the original source: ## Questions this post answers ### What is HAWK and why does it matter for post-quantum cryptography? HAWK is a digital signature scheme designed to resist attacks from future quantum computers, submitted for evaluation in NIST's post-quantum cryptography standardization process. It has survived two rounds of NIST testing and is currently in a third round, meaning it is not yet finalized as a formal standard. Anthropic's Mythos AI model reportedly advanced attacks against a weakened test version of HAWK, though the production specification remains far more robust. _Anyone evaluating post-quantum signature schemes for future migration can follow standardization developments like this via daily.dev._ ### Did an AI model actually break a post-quantum cryptography algorithm? No, the AI model did not break any cryptosystem used in practice. It advanced attacks only against deliberately weakened 'challenge instances' of HAWK and another algorithm, which are simplified versions specification authors provide for adversarial peer review; the underlying mathematical primitives and real-world specifications remain considered safe, and the attack methods would likely be infeasible outside controlled testing environments. _Developers weighing AI-driven security research claims against real risk can track credible follow-ups on daily.dev._ ## Similar posts on daily.dev - [Anthropic’s Mythos found flaws in classified US systems during a government test](https://daily.dev/posts/anthropic-s-mythos-found-flaws-in-classified-us-systems-during-a-government-test-axiekmvlp) · The Next Web · 21 upvotes · 4 comments - [Anthropic’s Mythos is the cyberthreat every CISO feared](https://daily.dev/posts/anthropic-s-mythos-is-the-cyberthreat-every-ciso-feared-5mg1fqudh) · TechCentral · 0 upvotes · 0 comments - [Anthropic Mythos Cybersecurity Risks: What 1,000 AI Pentests Actually Show](https://daily.dev/posts/anthropic-mythos-cybersecurity-risks-what-1-000-ai-pentests-actually-show-5nrgnibh8) · Aikido Security · 0 upvotes · 0 comments - [Anthropic’s Mythos AI Uncovered Serious Security Holes in Every Major OS and Browser](https://daily.dev/posts/anthropic-s-mythos-ai-uncovered-serious-security-holes-in-every-major-os-and-browser-jmuf840uh) · Singularity Hub · 0 upvotes · 0 comments --- Tags: [#quantum-computing](https://daily.dev/tags/quantum-computing), [#anthropic](https://daily.dev/tags/anthropic), [#cryptography](https://daily.dev/tags/cryptography), [#ai-security](https://daily.dev/tags/ai-security) [View this post on daily.dev](https://daily.dev/posts/mythos-uncovers-crypto-weaknesses-that-went-unknown-for-years-t5vilacsa) ```json {"@context":"https://schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https://daily.dev/#organization","name":"daily.dev","url":"https://daily.dev","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://daily.dev/apple-touch-icon.png","width":180,"height":180},"sameAs":["https://twitter.com/dailydotdev","https://github.com/dailydotdev","https://www.linkedin.com/company/daily-dev-ltd"]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https://daily.dev/#website","url":"https://daily.dev","name":"daily.dev","publisher":{"@id":"https://daily.dev/#organization"},"potentialAction":{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https://daily.dev/search?q={search_term_string}"},"query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}}]} {"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"TechArticle","headline":"Mythos uncovers crypto weaknesses that went unknown for years","url":"https://daily.dev/posts/mythos-uncovers-crypto-weaknesses-that-went-unknown-for-years-t5vilacsa","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://daily.dev/posts/mythos-uncovers-crypto-weaknesses-that-went-unknown-for-years-t5vilacsa"},"datePublished":"2026-07-29T22:43:46.467Z","dateModified":"2026-09-13T21:56:22.795Z","description":"Anthropic's Mythos AI security model has identified weaknesses in two cryptographic systems, including HAWK, a post-quantum digital signature scheme currently...","image":"https://media.daily.dev/image/upload/f_auto,q_auto/v1/posts/0c3e737eaea86eb12f31b24ed1869f9d?_a=AQAEuop","thumbnailUrl":"https://media.daily.dev/image/upload/f_auto,q_auto/v1/posts/0c3e737eaea86eb12f31b24ed1869f9d?_a=AQAEuop","isAccessibleForFree":true,"articleSection":"Ars Technica","inLanguage":"en","publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"daily.dev","url":"https://daily.dev","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://daily.dev/apple-touch-icon.png","width":180,"height":180}},"author":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Ars Technica","logo":"https://media.daily.dev/image/upload/t_logo,f_auto/v1/logos/80883e0e48a34b5ebcf93777016cb3fe","url":"https://daily.dev/sources/arstechnica"},"commentCount":0,"discussionUrl":"https://daily.dev/posts/mythos-uncovers-crypto-weaknesses-that-went-unknown-for-years-t5vilacsa","interactionStatistic":[{"@type":"InteractionCounter","interactionType":{"@type":"LikeAction"},"userInteractionCount":0},{"@type":"InteractionCounter","interactionType":{"@type":"CommentAction"},"userInteractionCount":0}],"keywords":"quantum-computing,anthropic,cryptography,ai-security","timeRequired":"PT2M"} {"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https://daily.dev"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Ars Technica","item":"https://daily.dev/sources/arstechnica"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"name":"Mythos uncovers crypto weaknesses that went unknown for years"}]} {"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"FAQPage","@id":"https://daily.dev/posts/mythos-uncovers-crypto-weaknesses-that-went-unknown-for-years-t5vilacsa#faq","mainEntity":[{"@type":"Question","name":"What is HAWK and why does it matter for post-quantum cryptography?","acceptedAnswer":{"@type":"Answer","text":"HAWK is a digital signature scheme designed to resist attacks from future quantum computers, submitted for evaluation in NIST's post-quantum cryptography standardization process. It has survived two rounds of NIST testing and is currently in a third round, meaning it is not yet finalized as a formal standard. Anthropic's Mythos AI model reportedly advanced attacks against a weakened test version of HAWK, though the production specification remains far more robust. Anyone evaluating post-quantum signature schemes for future migration can follow standardization developments like this via daily.dev."}},{"@type":"Question","name":"Did an AI model actually break a post-quantum cryptography algorithm?","acceptedAnswer":{"@type":"Answer","text":"No, the AI model did not break any cryptosystem used in practice. It advanced attacks only against deliberately weakened 'challenge instances' of HAWK and another algorithm, which are simplified versions specification authors provide for adversarial peer review; the underlying mathematical primitives and real-world specifications remain considered safe, and the attack methods would likely be infeasible outside controlled testing environments. Developers weighing AI-driven security research claims against real risk can track credible follow-ups on daily.dev."}}]} ```