Published at : 09 Jan 2023 09:05 AM (IST)
The artificial intelligence (AI) tool ChatGPT has recently been quite the topic of conversation in the technological community. It is possible to utilise ChatGPT to provide answers to queries, generate reports, and even develop software. And it would seem that hackers are employing for nefarious purposes at this time. A research company that specialises in cybersecurity claims that hostile actors utilised ChatGPT in order to construct dangerous tools. Underground hacker forums are being used by threat actors to develop information stealers, encryption tools, and other activities that facilitate fraudulent conduct. Checkpoint Research detailed three separate incidents in which hackers used ChatGPT.
According to Checkpoint Research, a well-known underground hacker site included a topic titled “ChatGPT – Benefits of Malware” on December 29, 2022. This thread was about the advantages of using malicious software. The publisher of the thread said that he was attempting to mimic malware strains and strategies outlined in research papers and articles about prevalent malware by using ChatGPT in his experiments. Checkpoint Research found that these blogs seemed to be showing less technically skilled hackers how to exploit ChatGPT for harmful reasons, complete with genuine examples that they may instantly implement.
Likewise, on December 21, 2022, a threat actor going by the name USDoD uploaded a Python script and emphasised that it was the ‘first script he had produced.’ This incident occurred. After another cybercriminal pointed out that the format of the code is similar to that of openAI code, the United States Department of Defense (USDoD) verified that the openAI offered him a “good [helping] hand to complete the script with a beautiful scope.” “This could mean that potential cybercriminals who have very little to no development skills at all could leverage ChatGPT to develop malicious tools and become a fully-fledged cybercriminal with technical capabilities,” said Checkpoint Research. “This could mean that potential cybercriminals who have very little to no development skills at all could leverage ChatGPT.”
Checkpoint Research claims that a cybercriminal demonstrated how to write scripts for a Dark Web marketplace using ChatGPT. To provide a platform for the automated trade of illegal or stolen goods like stolen accounts or payment cards, malware, or even drugs and ammunition, with all payments being made in cryptocurrencies, the marketplace’s primary function in the underground illicit economy is to serve as a platform for this kind of trade.
Check Point’s Threat Intelligence Group Manager, Sergey Shykevich, said that “Cybercriminals are finding ChatGPT intriguing. Over the last several weeks, we have seen signs that hackers are beginning to utilise it to develop harmful programmes. Hackers might benefit from ChatGPT’s ability to speed up the process by providing them with a solid foundation to work from. It is possible for ChatGPT to be used for both beneficial objectives, such as assisting programmers in the creation of code, as well as for harmful ones.