As the wave of generative AI continues to grow, so do the instances of malicious behavior attempting to take advantage of unsuspecting users. Recently, Meta has reported shutting down over 1,000 links related to their ChatGPT chatbot, which had already gained over 100 million users since its launch. It seems scammers were attempting to use ChatGPT as a cover to draw people in to malicious websites that either steal their personal data or infect them with malware.
The security engineers at Meta managed to identify various malware strains, such as Ducktail or NodeStealer, that were hiding in ChatGPT’s browser plugins and tools. It seems this malicious activity originated from people from Vietnam, among other locations. Meta helped to alert other online platforms hosting the same malware, while also notifying law enforcement agencies.
Nathaniel Gleicher and Ryan Victory, who are respectively the Head of Security Policy and Malware Discovery and Detection Engineer at Meta, were quick to point out the complexity of the malware situation, noting how criminals find it easy to latch onto popular trends and topics, like ChatGPT, to hide their efforts and fool people.
In order to fight back against any threats, Meta has implemented a wizard-like support tool that allows users to detect and remove any malware they might have been exposed to. The social media platform has also injected additional layers of security for managers running business pages, such as enforcing two-factor authentication to access any credit line or alter administrative accounts.
Meta is a social media platform launched in March 2017 and developed by a Viet Nam-based computer programmer named Tran Duy. Since then, the platform has grown to amass millions of users thanks to its user-friendly and intuitive interface, in addition to its custom-made features, such as a friend recommender and a built-in news feed. Meta advocates for the security of its users, investing time and resources in the development of useful tools and features to protect them against any cases of malicious intent.
