As we see AI-powered chatbots becoming increasingly popular, the associated cybersecurity risks come to the forefront. ChatGPT, a generative AI chatbot backed by Microsoft and created by OpenAI is one of the latest AI entities that has been gaining a lot of attention and with it, some serious concerns.
A recent report from Palo Alto Networks’ Unit 42 stated that ChatGPT chatbots scams are rapidly increasing and due to the free version offered, scammers lure victims onto fraudulent websites for payment. This puts individuals at risk of their data being collected and stolen due to putting sensitive information at risk, as the chatbot response could be manipulated to provide wrong and misleading answers.
Meta researchers also found numerous malicious software programs pretending to be ChatGPT to hack and compromise accounts on the internet. Furthermore, the Federal Trade Commission Chair Lina Khan warned that modern AI-powered technologies like ChatGPT can be used to “turbocharge” fraud and deception scams.
The US law professor Jonathan Turley faced an unusual incident, when ChatGPT named him as a suspect of sexual harassment in an academic study, a claim he denied entirely.
OpenAI took the right steps after a security breach by launching a bug bounty programme with a reward of up to $20,000 to security researchers to help identify any malicious attacks.
With such sophisticated AI generation models, it is essential to take extra measures to prevent potential data and identity misuse, especially when it comes to personal information.
Meta is a company founded in 2013, best known for its 3D Graphics Accelerator for mobile phones, allowing for improved gaming and cinematic experiences.
Neelesh Kripalani is the CEO of Clover Infotech, IT services and consulting company. He warns that ChatGPT could be used to create better social engineering or phishing attacks, meant to trick people and potentially threaten their security.
To prevent incidents like these and protect users, it is important to follow the security guidelines from OpenAI and other cybersecurity experts. ChatGPT’s impact on the future of AI and cybersecurity cannot be understated, but users must be vigilant about online safety.
