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Russian cybercriminals have been discovered trying to get around the restrictions on ChatGPT and using the advanced AI-powered chatbot for their nefarious purposes.
Check Point Research (CPR) said they had seen multiple discussions on underground forums where hackers discussed various methods, including using stolen payment cards to pay for upgraded user accounts on OpenAI, bypassing geofencing restrictions and using a “Russian semi-legal online SMS service”. to register ChatGPT.
ChatGPT is a new artificial intelligence (AI) chatbot that made headlines for its versatility and ease of use. Cybersecurity researchers have already seen hackers use the tool to generate credible phishing emails, as well as code for malicious, macro-laden Office files.
Paper roadblocks
However, it is not so easy to abuse the tool as OpenAI imposes some restrictions. Russian hackers have more roadblocks to overcome as a result of the invasion of Ukraine.
For Sergey Shykevich, Threat Intelligence Group Manager at Check Point Software Technologies, the obstacles aren’t good enough:
“It is not extremely difficult to get around OpenAI’s restrictive measures for specific countries to access ChatGPT. At this point, we see Russian hackers already discussing and checking how to get past the geofencing to use ChatGPT for their malicious purposes.
We think that these hackers are most likely trying to implement and test ChatGPT in their daily criminal activities. Cybercriminals are becoming more and more interested in ChatGPT because the AI technology behind it can make a hacker more cost-effective,” said Shykevich.
But hackers don’t just want to use ChatGPT, they also try to take advantage of the tool’s increasing popularity to spread all kinds of malware (opens in new tab) and steal money. For example, Apple’s app repository, the App Store, hosted an app that pretended to be the chatbot, but with a monthly subscription that cost about $10. Other apps (some of which have also been found on Google Play) charged as much as $15 for the “service”.