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Comment by dumbmrblah | Hacker News Reader

I worry this is gonna cause even more sensitive/privilaged data extrafiltration than currently is happening. And most “normies” won't even notice.

I know the counterargument is people are already putting in company data via ChatGPT. However, that is a conscious decision. This may happen without people even recognizing that they are “spilling the beans”.

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This hit the front page yesterday so you may have seen it, but figured I'd post for posterity sake

> Claude Cowork exfiltrates files https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46622328

I think you're right, but the issue goes deeper. If the productivity gains are real, the incentive to bypass security becomes overwhelming. We are going to see a massive conflict where compliance tries to clamp down, but eventually loses to 'getting work done.'

Even if critics are right that these models are inherently insecure, the market will likely settle for 'optically patched.' If the efficiency gains are there, companies will just accept the residual risk.

Claude (generally, even non Cowork mode) is vulnerable to exfil via their APIs, and Anthropic's response was that you should click the stop button if exfiltration occurs.

This is a good example of the Normalization of Deviance in AI by the way.

See my Claude Pirate research from last October for details:

https://embracethered.com/blog/posts/2025/claude-abusing-net...

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