Shares in cybersecurity companies, particularly Zscaler (ZS) and Cloudflare (NET), jumped on Friday afternoon. This follows reports that U.S. officials are highly worried about the risk of powerful AI tools, such as Anthropic’s Mythos AI model, being used to attack government IT systems.
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CISA Mulls Shorter Deadlines for Security Flaw Fix
According to Reuters, the U.S. Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA), an arm of the Department of Homeland Security, is considering slashing deadlines to fix security vulnerabilities. Sources familiar with the matter told the outlet that CISA might look to sharply cut down deadlines from as long as three weeks to just three days.
Shares in other cybersecurity companies such as Palo Alto Networks (PANW) and CrowdStrike (CRWD) were also up following the news. The previous day, cybersecurity stocks plunged after OpenAI introduced a new security feature to its digital assistant ChatGPT and its coding platform Codex.
Anthropic, OpenAI Cyber Tools Spark Fears of Hacker Abuse
Meanwhile, the report comes as Anthropic’s Mythos AI, alongside OpenAI’s GPT-5.5 Cyber, has triggered fears of the tools being hijacked by hackers to spot and exploit weak points in security systems faster than ever before.
This concern has forced both leading AI startups to limit access to the tools, with Anthropic debuting Project Glasswing towards that goal. In particular, Mythos, which leaked to the media in late March, has taken the industry by storm and drawn the attention of President Donald Trump and some government bodies.
The rise in the stocks comes as analysts have emphasized that traditional cybersecurity companies will benefit from, rather than be displaced by, artificial intelligence tools.
Which Is the Best Cybersecurity Stock to Buy?
According to TipRanks’ Stock Comparison tool, Netskope (NTSK) offers the biggest upside of more than 66%. This is based on an average price target of $17.38 that comes with a Strong Buy consensus rating from analysts.
