ChatGPT Popularity being used by Cybercriminals to Spread Malware

Malicious hackers are using the Popularity of ChatGPT to distribute malware via hijacked Facebook accounts, according to cyber intelligence firm CloudSEK on Monday.

In its study, CloudSEK discovered 13 Facebook pages or profiles, including some with Indian content, with over 5 lakh followers that have been hijacked and are being used to spread malware via Facebook adverts.

“Cybercriminals are taking advantage of the Popularity of ChatGPT by compromising legitimate Facebook accounts in order to distribute malware via Facebook ads, putting users’ security at risk. Our study identified 13 infected pages with over 500k followers, some of which were hijacked as recently as February 2023. We recommend platform users to be careful and aware of such harmful operations “Bablu Kumar, a CloudSEK cyber intelligence expert, stated.

CloudSEK claims to have discovered at least 25 websites imitating the OpenAI website, which are malicious sites that dupe people into downloading and installing destructive software, posing a serious risk to their security and privacy.

Kumar said, “The dangerous software not only has the ability to steal sensitive information such as PII, system information, and credit card details from the user’s device, but it also has the ability to replicate and propagate between computers through removable media. It poses a big concern because of its capacity to increase privileges and consistently remain on the system.”