Meta says ChatGPT-related malware is on the rise

Facebook owner Meta said on Wednesday it had uncovered malware purveyors leveraging public interest in ChatGPT to lure users into downloading malicious apps and browser extensions, likening the phenomenon to cryptocurrency scams. Since March, the social media giant has found around 10 malware families and more than 1,000 malicious links that were promoted as tools featuring the popular artificial intelligence-powered chatbot, it said in a report. Also Read: OpenAI Confirms Adult-Only ChatGPT With Custom Personalities And Erotic Conversations

In some cases, the malware delivered working ChatGPT functionality alongside abusive files, the company said. Speaking at a press briefing on the report, Meta Chief Information Security Officer Guy Rosen said that for bad actors, “ChatGPT is the new crypto.” Also Read: Forget ChatGPT And Gemini Nano Banana! Microsoft Launches MAI-Image-1 - The In House Text-To-Image Tool

Rosen and other Meta executives said the company was preparing its defenses for a variety of potential abuses linked to generative AI technologies like ChatGPT, which can quickly create human-like writing, music and art. Lawmakers have flagged the tools as likely to make online disinformation campaigns easier to propagate. Also Read: Meta Wants Employees To Build The Metaverse 5X Faster Using AI

Asked if generative AI was already being used in information operations, the executives said it was still early, though Rosen said he expected “bad actors” to use the technologies to “try to speed up and perhaps scale up” their activities.

— Reuters