In both a 2021 essay and my 2022 book, A Hacker’s Mind, I talk about AIs finding vulnerabilities and exploits—hacking—the legal system.

Here’s some demonstrations of this from Germany:

Legal systems encode the foundations of social order in natural language. Similar to computer systems, the written law can contain vulnerabilities that invite exploitation.1 Courts absorb most exploits through interpretation, and such vulnerabilities rarely surface in the first place. With highly capable AI systems enabling the discovery of vulnerabilities at unprecedented scale, we believe the latter could change.

In testing this hypothesis, we have identified a substantial number of vulnerabilities in the German legal system using LLMs. To our knowledge, none of these have been previously recorded. We share a selection of vulnerabilities below, and present potential exploits for each. We share only those vulnerabilities whose exploitation we believe would not cause serious harm.

We believe that with cheap legal reasoning proliferating, AI systems could jeopardize the functioning of today’s legal systems. In such a world, lawmakers would need to significantly harden the process of legislation, for example by leveraging advanced AI themselves.

Still in its early stages, but definitely something that’s coming.

AI and PHP Flaws Put Japanese Companies at Risk

GMO Internet Chief Seeks Stronger Cyberdefence

Rising Security Costs for Japanese Companies

Japan is preparing to set up a dedicated team to run AI-driven cyberattack simulations to expose weaknesses in technology systems. Japan’s plan for AI cyberattack simulations comes as organizations worldwide scramble to address critical PHP flaws that have disrupted parts of the internet. 

Speaking on Friday, Industry Minister Ryosei Akazawa said those defending against cyber threats need to think like attackers, using AI proactively to uncover potential weak points before they can be exploited. 

His comments follow widespread disruption caused by the disclosure of the PHP flaws, which led to millions of reported hacking attempts. Businesses and governments were forced to patch their systems or temporarily take websites offline.  

Because PHP is widely used to build and run websites and web applications, any weakness in the language poses a risk to organizations across many sectors. 

How PHP Flaws Hit Banks, Airlines and Government 

The vulnerabilities triggered precautionary shutdowns across banking, transport, airline and government services in several countries. 

In Japan, Nomura, Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group, ANA and East Japan Railway temporarily halted some online services. The Ministry of Finance, the National Tax Agency and the Meteorological Agency also suspended certain digital services as part of their security response. 

On Friday, JR East said some of its services were back online, while others would resume only after safety checks. Nippon Paint said it had applied a security patch and restored its website. 

The disruption shows how difficult it is to secure interconnected digital infrastructure when a widely used software component turns out to have serious weaknesses. 

SoftBank Pauses Emergency Alerts Over PHP Flaws 

The fallout also reached services people rely on in a crisis. Telecommunications company SoftBank said it was temporarily suspending its mobile emergency alert system while it carried out maintenance to fix a PHP vulnerability. 

While the system is down, customers will not receive early warnings through it for earthquakes, tsunami threats, disasters, or evacuation information. The case shows that cybersecurity incidents can extend well beyond ordinary websites and interrupt access to vital public safety information. 

Why Japan AI Cyberattack Simulations Point to Proactive Defense 

The episode has put a fresh focus on finding vulnerabilities before attackers do. The Japan AI cyberattack simulations are designed to help defenders understand how weaknesses might be targeted and to sharpen their response capabilities, in line with the approach Ryosei Akazawa outlined. 

Simulation alone is not enough, however. Installing patches remains essential, and organizations need to test updated systems carefully before bringing services back, especially where transport, finance, and government operations are affected. 

As AI tools grow more capable for both attackers and defenders, businesses and governments face the task of pairing fast vulnerability detection with effective security updates, continuous monitoring, and resilient digital infrastructure. 

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