100,000 ChatGPT Accounts Around The World Were Stolen
Is the Asia-Pacific region being targeted? 100,000 ChatGPT accounts around the world were stolen, 40% occurred in the Asia-Pacific region
Recently, ChatGPT’s generative AI tools have begun to be targeted by hackers. According to an investigation report by Group-IB, a network security service provider, from June 2022 to May 2023, 101,134 ChatGPT accounts were stolen by hackers and sold for money. Among them, 25,802 accounts were stolen last month, and the number is increasing every month.
The reason why this happens is that more and more people now use ChatGPT to work, because it can generate a variety of content, such as articles, conversations, code, etc. However, one drawback of ChatGPT is that it retains history by default. So when a hacker takes away a user's account, he can see all the content previously generated by the user, obtain important information about the user and the company, and then conduct targeted attacks.
ChatGPT is also an open source project, and anyone can download, modify, and use it. Although this allows more people to enjoy the convenience of generative AI, it also leaves opportunities for hackers. Hackers can exploit vulnerabilities in ChatGPT to crack user accounts and passwords, or trick users into entering their account numbers and passwords by forging the ChatGPT interface.
Who would dare to use such a dangerous tool? In fact, many companies have begun to restrict employees from using generative AI tools. Just a few days ago, Google followed Samsung, Apple, Amazon and other companies in banning employees from using generative AI tools, including Bard, launched by Google itself.
According to the survey report, the Asia-Pacific region is where the most accounts were stolen. A total of 40,999 accounts were stolen by hackers, accounting for 40.5%. Followed by the Middle East and Africa (24925), Europe (16951), and Latin America (12314). By country, India is the country with the most stolen ChatGPT accounts, followed by Pakistan, Brazil, and Vietnam.
The expert group believes that only a small part of these 100,000 accounts have been discovered, and the actual number of stolen ChatGPT accounts may be much higher than imagined.
Not long ago, OpenAI CEO Sam Altman (Sam Altman) was invited to participate in the hearing of the US Senate to discuss a series of issues such as the risks of artificial intelligence and data security. Among them, artificial intelligence may affect elections and obtain human audio, so as to imitate human voices to create false information. Altman proposed to strengthen the supervision of artificial intelligence. It seems to agree, but it is actually a blow to other peers. It means monopoly. It is precisely because of this and despite the many problems with artificial intelligence that OpenAI has been unanimously approved by the U.S. Senate.
The ridiculous thing is that just last month, Zhou Shouzi, the CEO of the overseas version of TikTok, also accepted the same interview in the same position, and also had a series of discussions on data security and privacy issues. Zhou Shouzi's statement is well-founded. However, the result was unsatisfactory, in stark contrast to the CEO of OpenAI. Not only did it not receive any support, but after a complete ban, Tiktok was also forced to withdraw from the US market. It has been removed from the Apple Store and Google Store. Whether they are treated differently or have other intentions, we don’t know.
Since the open source of chatGPT, more and more AI applications have emerged on the market, which is accompanied by many problems, the most important of which is the security of data and privacy. Once your account is compromised, all the information you interact with will be exposed, even audio messages. This will have an immeasurable impact on us, including personal safety, property safety, privacy safety, etc., and will be used to imitate your voice, tone and way of speaking to commit fraud or spread false information.
The Editor Has Compiled The Following Suggestions For This Purpose:
1. Do not use weak or repeated passwords. It is best to use a password manager to generate and save complex passwords. Nowadays, people like to use the same password or similar passwords for the convenience of memory. It is fine for a few years, but now this is very unsafe behavior.
2. Do not use ChatGPT on unsecured networks or devices, such as public Wi-Fi or computers.
3. Do not click on links or attachments from strangers or suspicious ones, including inexplicable text messages, as they may be bait for hackers.
4. Do not arbitrarily authorize third-party applications or websites to access your ChatGPT account, as it may be a hacker disguised.
5. Clean your ChatGPT history regularly to avoid leaking sensitive information.
6. If you find that your ChatGPT account has been stolen or abnormal, please change your password immediately and report it to the official.
7. Do not use AI products from third-party non-authoritative organizations. Not only does it risk inducing recharge and money to run away, there is also the risk of data theft and reselling.
In today's era of rapid development of artificial intelligence, more and more AI tools are being born. We must not only learn how to use AI tools to prevent them from being eliminated by the times, but also learn how to use them safely. ChatGPT is a very powerful generative AI tool, but it also comes with significant security risks. While we enjoy the convenience it brings to our lives and work, we must also pay attention to protecting our privacy and information.
