Criminals have a new favorite weapon: WormGPT. ChatGPT’s evil twin.
WormGPT is an AI chatbot that has no ethical boundaries or limitations.
It has been trained on the evil secrets of the dark web and doesn’t have the safety guardrails used by ChatGPT to prevent harmful and inappropriate discussions.
How are criminals using WormGPT?
Hackers and scammers use every weapon in their arsenal to perform their evil deeds, and AI language models are no exception. Here are four frightening ways criminals are using AI chatbots on the dark web:
1. Sophisticated phishing attacks
WormGPT could generate an email that appears to come from a trusted source like your bank or a colleague. For instance, an email claiming to be from your bank could ask you to confirm your login details due to a security breach. Falling for this trap would give attackers access to your banking information.
Using an AI chatbot, hackers could feed WormGPT information from your social media pages to personalize the message specifically for you. The messages will also sound much more professional. They won’t contain the usual grammatical errors and typos that we’re used to seeing in dodgy emails.
2. Automated social engineering
WormGPT could generate a series of messages impersonating a friend or family member in distress, asking for money to solve an urgent problem.
These messages could be convincing enough to prompt an immediate emotional response, and you might send money to what you think is your friend’s account, but is actually controlled by a cybercriminal.
Criminals could even use AI voice generators to clone your voice and use that clone to make calls to family and friends.
3. Disinformation campaigns
Imagine a barrage of blog posts, social media updates, and comments spread across the web, all generated by WormGPT, claiming that a particular political candidate is involved in some scandalous activity.
The sheer volume of information could sway public sentiment against the candidate, even if the claims are entirely baseless.
4. Creation of malicious code
WormGPT could generate a piece of code disguised as a beneficial software update. When run, the “update” could actually install ransomware on your system, encrypting your data and demanding payment to unlock it.
The magic of ChatGPT is that it empowers people with no coding experience to build apps and software. But all magic can be used for dark arts, and WormGPT could theoretically be used to create malicious code by criminals with no coding experience at all.
How worried should I be about WormGPT?
For now, WormGPT costs over $600 per year, so it will prevent many criminals and hackers in developing countries and nations from accessing the tool.
There are even discussions on hacker forums commenting that WormGPT doesn’t perform very well, so we might have some time to prepare for more sophisticated attacks.
WormGPT shouldn’t be a big concern, but it is certainly a sign of the growing risk that AI will fall into the hands of criminals.
How can I best protect myself from AI criminals?
Some of the methods in this article may sound frightening, but there are measures you can take to prevent them.
- First and foremost, always stay skeptical of unsolicited emails or messages, particularly those asking for personal or financial information.
- Never click on links or download attachments from an unknown source.
- Keep your software, including your operating system, browser, and antivirus programs, updated to the latest version to benefit from the most recent security patches.
- Use strong, unique passwords for each of your accounts and consider using a password manager to handle them.
- Implement two-factor authentication whenever possible for an additional layer of security.
- Educate yourself about the latest types of cyber threats and scams.
- The FBI has issued advice on how to safeguard your business accounts.
The best thing you can do is to share this information with friends and family that you think may be vulnerable to these kinds of attacks.
