ChatGPT continues to make headlines, but this time for the wrong reasons, experts warn.
Cybersecurity researchers at Check Point Research (CPR) found that cybercriminals used the tool to thrive on, and sometimes create from scratch, dangerous malware (opens in a new tab) and ransomware.
The team published the results of its investigation and claimed to have detected numerous posts on sneaky hacking discussion forums in which cybercriminals discuss creating information stealers, encryption tools, and other malware, with the help of ChatGPT. To make matters worse, some authors appear to be completely new to the programming world and report that the tool could be used to significantly lower the barrier to entry for cybercrime.
In addition to creating malware and ransomware, cybercriminals also use the AI-powered chatbot to create supporting software. One hacker described using the tool to create a marketplace, where other hackers can trade in illegal and stolen resources, such as payment details, malware, but also drugs and weapons. Each and every one of the payments made on the platform would be made in cryptocurrencies.
"Cybercriminals find ChatGPT appealing. In recent weeks, we've seen hackers start to use it to write malicious code," said Sergey Shykevich, head of threat intelligence group at Check Point.
"ChatGPT has the potential to speed up the process for hackers by giving them a good starting point. Since ChatGPT can be put to good use in helping developers write code, it can also be used for malicious purposes. Although the tools we examined in this report are pretty basic, it's only a matter of time before more complex threat actors improve the way they use AI-powered tools to investigate ChatGPT-related cybercrime in the coming weeks.
ChatGPT is an AI-powered chatbot recently released by OpenAI. Since its IPO, the quality of the tool has attracted a lot of attention, but it has also generated some fear. The media have gone so far as to discuss whether tools like ChatGPT could spell the end of Google and other consumer tech giants, or put most software developers out of a job.