Tech Brew Ride Home · Friday, September 18, 2026
Mohannad Pethepati, CTO of Hectron AI, expressed concern that advanced AI capabilities could be exploited by nation-state actors to gain access to sensitive AI secrets. He suggested that current cybersecurity defenses may not be robust enough to counter such sophisticated threats.
“"I don't think we are as strong as Chinese threat actors," said Mohannad Pethepati, chief technology officer with Hectron AI, the security firm that did the research. "We're just three guys with Claude and Codex subscriptions."”
“The researchers that hacked OpenAI said the attacks suggest that advanced cyber-savvy teams backed by nation states have a very real chance of getting a peek at the country's AI secrets.”