[Bug] Claude Code incorrectly flags legitimate phishing analysis as policy violation

Resolved 💬 1 comment Opened Apr 26, 2026 by ianfiske Closed May 28, 2026

Bug Description
Bug Report: Legitimate Defensive Security Analysis Incorrectly Flagged as Policy Violation

Issue Summary:
Claude Code is incorrectly refusing legitimate defensive cybersecurity education requests, specifically email phishing analysis, with Usage Policy violation errors.

Expected Behavior:
Users should be able to request analysis of suspicious emails for defensive security/educational purposes, similar to what cybersecurity professionals do daily.

Actual Behavior:
Receiving error: "Claude Code is unable to respond to this request, which appears to violate our Usage Policy"

Steps to Reproduce:

  1. Ask Claude to analyze an email for phishing indicators
  2. Frame request clearly as defensive security/education
  3. Include email headers and content for analysis
  4. Error occurs even with carefully worded requests emphasizing legitimate defensive purposes

Use Case Context:

  • Analyzing potentially suspicious emails to learn phishing detection
  • Defensive cybersecurity education
  • Similar to professional security analysis workflows
  • Goal is protection/learning, not malicious activity

Impact:

  • Prevents legitimate security awareness training
  • Blocks educational requests that help users protect themselves
  • Interferes with defensive cybersecurity practices

Additional Notes:

  • Issue occurred with Opus 4.7 (1m, xhigh), but Sonnet 4 did the analysis
  • Occurs even with sanitized/carefully worded requests
  • Same analysis would be routine work for cybersecurity professionals
  • Creates barrier to security education that benefits user safety

Request:
Please review and adjust filters to allow legitimate defensive security analysis while maintaining appropriate protections against actual policy violations.

Environment Info

  • Platform: linux
  • Terminal: windows-terminal
  • Version: 2.1.119
  • Feedback ID: 45f75ce9-3e1c-4951-b112-40fd3f8364e1

Errors

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