The leak is notable in that data breaches are at an all-time high, with a whopping 95% traced to human error. However, the company emphasized that the breach is in no way related to the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) probe, on which they declined to comment.

Anthropic confirms it suffered a data leak https://t.co/vnPSrS0S9Q#Cybersecurity #cybercrime #cyberattacks #hacker #hack #breach #phishing #dos #ransomware #malware pic.twitter.com/cbIXgWnoMr

— Rich Tehrani (@rtehrani) January 27, 2024

Anthropic confirmed that only a “subset” of users were impacted, though the company did not provide a specific number. The information leaked included the “account name….accounts receivable information as of December 31, 2023” for customers. The company has notified affected customers and provided them with relevant guidance.

Anthropic said the contractor’s actions “were an isolated error” and that it wasn’t aware of “any malicious behavior arising out of this disclosure.” However, the company emphasized, “we are asking customers to be alert to any suspicious communications appearing to come from Anthropic, such as requests for payment, requests to amend payment instructions, emails containing suspicious links, requests for credentials or passwords, or other unusual requests.” Customers who received the letter were advised to “ignore any suspicious contacts” purporting to be from Anthropic and to “exercise caution” and follow their own internal accounting controls around payments and invoices.

The leak comes at a time when data breaches are becoming increasingly common, and companies are under more scrutiny than ever before. It remains to be seen what the long-term impact of this leak will be on Anthropic and its customers. However, the company has taken steps to mitigate the damage, and it appears that the leak was an isolated incident caused by human error .