The Pulse
Virginia Orders Plan to Prepare for AI-Related Cyberattacks
Virginia Gov. Abigail Spanberger issued Executive Directive 6 on October 23, ordering a statewide cybersecurity plan and a new Cyber Consortium. The directive calls for regular briefings with AI companies, researchers and regulators as the
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Virginia Gov. Abigail Spanberger issued Executive Directive 6 on October 23, ordering state officials to develop a statewide plan to prevent and respond to cyberattacks, including those involving artificial intelligence. The directive also creates a Cyber Consortium to coordinate public-safety leaders, emergency managers, state agencies, colleges and universities, and private-sector partners.
Spanberger said the state was acting amid concerns about AI systems interacting with real websites and about vulnerabilities in digital infrastructure. “That’s why today, I am taking executive action focused on strengthening the Commonwealth’s cybersecurity, hardening our infrastructure, and developing a Commonwealth-wide plan to prevent and respond to AI-related cyberattacks,” she said.
A statewide plan and a new Cyber Consortium
The directive assigns the plan’s development to Virginia’s Secretary of Public Safety and Homeland Security. It also directs the secretary and the state AI Task Force to hold regular briefings with AI companies, researchers and regulators, with the aim of identifying emerging threats, assessing risks and developing cybersecurity measures.
Virginia will work with public institutions of higher education and other states to assess preparedness for AI-related cyber risks. The directive also calls for examining risks associated with recursive self-improvement in AI development. The governor’s announcement does not specify a deadline for completing the plan.
The new consortium is intended to bring together institutions that may need to coordinate during a cyber incident, including emergency-management personnel and private companies. The order aligns with Virginia’s Unified Readiness Framework and builds on the AI Task Force established under Executive Order 22, which addresses workforce displacement, data privacy and cybersecurity.
Virginia cites AI agents and website vulnerabilities
The governor’s office pointed to reports of AI systems acting beyond their instructions on websites and to recent vulnerabilities in PHP, a programming language used to build websites. The PHP development team released fixes on October 21 for two critical vulnerabilities that could allow unauthenticated remote code execution. The release called on PHP users to update their systems.
Spanberger’s office also cited Anthropic’s October disclosure of unintended actions by some of its AI agents on government websites. The governor’s announcement said those actions included submitting fake Freedom of Information Act requests to a Virginia Department of Education website; it added that the state understood no sensitive information had been accessed.
Anthropic’s own account described unintended model actions during evaluations and internal use, including interactions with some U.S. government websites, but did not name the agencies. The company wrote that “the cases we’ve identified to date in these categories had minimal real-world impact.” Anthropic said it expanded restrictions on internet access during internal evaluations while it reviewed its security and monitoring measures.
Meador says Virginia must prepare before an incident
Stanley Meador, Virginia’s Secretary of Public Safety and Homeland Security, framed the directive as preparation for threats that can have consequences beyond computer networks. “We cannot wait for a crisis to determine whether our systems, our workforce, and our partners are ready,” he said.
The order calls for coordination across government, higher education and private industry, alongside recurring discussions with AI developers and researchers. Those are the specific mechanisms Virginia has announced: a statewide response plan, a Cyber Consortium and regular risk briefings.