ARTICLE: The Emerging Threats to Cybersecurity from ChatGPT

OpenAI’s ChatGPT, an AI language model, has been a game changer in the cybersecurity industry, offering new avenues for hackers to potentially breach advanced software. With a 38% global increase in data breaches in 2022, it is crucial for leaders to recognize the growing impact of AI and act accordingly.

One of the key threats arising from ChatGPT’s widespread use is AI-generated phishing scams. The tool’s ability to converse seamlessly with users without spelling, grammatical, and verb tense mistakes makes it seem like there could be a real person on the other side of the chat window. This presents a significant threat to cybersecurity leaders, who need to equip their IT teams with tools that can determine what is ChatGPT-generated vs. human-generated, geared specifically toward incoming “cold” emails.

ChatGPT Detector technology already exists and is likely to advance alongside ChatGPT itself. IT infrastructure should integrate AI detection software, automatically screening and flagging emails that are AI-generated. It is also important for all employees to be routinely trained and re-trained on the latest cybersecurity awareness and prevention skills, with specific attention paid to AI-supported phishing scams.

However, manipulation of ChatGPT is possible, and bad actors may be able to trick the AI into generating hacking code. Cybersecurity professionals need proper training and resources to respond to ever-growing threats, AI-generated or otherwise. Additionally, cybersecurity training should include instruction on how ChatGPT can be an important tool in cybersecurity professionals’ arsenal.

ChatGPT, a generative AI tool, has the potential to be hacked and used by bad actors to disseminate misinformation. While ChatGPT has taken steps to avoid answering politically charged questions, compromised AI could become a dangerous propaganda machine. The Biden administration has released a “Blueprint for an AI Bill of Rights,” but the stakes are higher with the launch of ChatGPT. Oversight is needed to ensure OpenAI and other companies launching generative AI products regularly review their security features to reduce the risk of being hacked. Additionally, new AI models should require a threshold of minimum-security measures before an AI is open-sourced.

A shift in mindset towards AI is required, and we must reimagine the foundational base for AI, especially open-sourced examples like ChatGPT. Developers must ask themselves if their capabilities are ethical, establish standards that require this, and hold developers accountable for failing to uphold those standards. Organizations have instituted agnostic standards to ensure safe and ethical exchanges across different technologies, and it is critical to apply the same principles to generative AI.

Technology leaders must consider the implications of ChatGPT for their teams, companies, and society as a whole, as they may fall behind competitors in adopting and deploying generative AI to improve business outcomes and fail to anticipate and defend against next-generation hackers.