OpenAI, the developer behind AI chatbot ChatGPT, collaborated with its major investor, Microsoft, to thwart five cyberattacks associated with various threat actors, including Russian military intelligence, Iran’s Revolutionary Guard, and the Chinese and North Korean governments. These groups explored the use of large language models (LLMs) in their hacking strategies, exploiting AI capabilities.
OpenAI reported that the five cyberattacks originated from two groups associated with China: the Charcoal Typhoon and the Salmon Typhoon. Attacks were linked to Iran through Crimson Sandstorm, North Korea through Emerald Sleet, and Russia through Forest Blizzard. The attackers attempted to utilize ChatGPT-4 for researching company and cybersecurity tools, debugging code, generating scripts, conducting phishing campaigns, translating technical papers, evading malware detection, and studying satellite communication and radar technology.
The accounts involved in these cyberattacks were promptly deactivated upon detection, showcasing OpenAI’s vigilance in responding to potential threats.
Despite OpenAI’s effective prevention of these incidents, it acknowledged the ongoing challenge of preventing every malicious use of its AI programs. Policymakers have intensified scrutiny of generative AI developers due to concerns about AI-generated deepfakes and scams, prompting OpenAI to implement safeguards and launch a $1 million cybersecurity grant program in June 2023.
More than 200 entities, including OpenAI, Microsoft, Anthropic, and Google, recently collaborated with the Biden Administration to establish the AI Safety Institute and the United States AI Safety Institute Consortium (AISIC). This initiative emerged in response to President Joe Biden’s executive order on AI safety in late October 2023, aiming to promote the safe development of AI, combat AI-generated deepfakes, and address cybersecurity challenges.
Disclosure Statement: Miami Crypto does not take any external funding, or support to bring crypto news to the readers. We do not have any conflicts of interest while writing news stories on Miami Crypto.