ChatGPT: Analyzing the Security Risks and Ensuring User Safety

ChatGPT has taken the digital world by storm since its launch in 2022. The advanced language model developed by OpenAI has improved natural language processing almost beyond recognition.

As a result, millions of ChatGPT users are now leveraging its ability to generate human-like text for various applications, including creating digital content (articles, emails, etc.), understanding complex concepts, and even writing code.

However, just like any other digital solution, ChatGPT is not immune to internal and external cybersecurity threats. In this post, we’ll share the five main ChatGPT security risks you should know about before using the AI chatbot. 

Navigating the ChatGPT Security Risks

While this technology has a lot of power, there are a lot of OpenAI security risks that need to be fixed if users and their data need to be safe. Here, we will examine the top 5 ChatGPT security risks:

1. Data theft and fraud

ChatGPT utilizes an Open-source Large Learning Model any user can modify. While this is essential for AI training, it makes the technology vulnerable to data theft. Hackers can get access to users’ chat history and use the platform for different types of fraud. 

Cybercriminals can use any information they find handy to target you, such as your email, address, code, etc. 

2. Model performance issues

While you may know how to use chat ChatGPT for free to create code for phishing detection, spam filtering, and even malware analysis, the quality of your solution depends on the training data you feed the AI Chatbot and the architecture it creates. 

In many cases, your solution or code might not be good enough to combat different types of malware or detect network intrusion. Hence, you can put your system at risk, especially if you don’t have a contingency (backup/primary off-the-shelf solution) for the same purpose during development. 

3. Sensitive data exposure

Another ChatGPT security risk includes exposure to sensitive data. If you’re planning to use the publicly available version of ChatGPT at work, the last thing you want to do is input sensitive information related to your organization or business. This version of ChatGPT uses the information you feed into it to learn and respond to future requests. 

For instance, you can ask the AI Chatbot to create a corporate strategy document containing trade secrets by uploading different files, datasets, etc. The confidential information you provided can be shared with other users who have similar queries in the future. 

For example, a user from a rival company can simply ask ChatGPT about your company’s strategic information and priorities. 

4. Phishing and social engineering attacks

ChatGPT is an excellent tool for creating human-like content. As a result, hackers can create phishing emails on demand without typos, grammatical issues, or any signs of malicious intent. However, ChatGPT’s assistance doesn’t end there (potentially). 

If you want to use the AI Chatbot, sign up with your name and email address. If hackers get a hold of this information, they can get access to a database of millions of ChatGPT users they can target and carry out social engineering attacks. 

5. Fake customer support scam

If you’ve signed up for ChatGPT but haven’t started using it yet, you probably have a lot of questions about how to use it. You’re not alone. Most users who sign up for the AI Chatbot opt for popular platforms like Slack, Discord, Quora, or Facebook to seek instructions from competent users.

Doing so may lead to becoming a victim of cyberattacks by sharing sensitive information with malicious criminals pretending to be experts or customer service representatives of fake ChatGPT-related companies. 

These criminals can even trick you into entering your credentials or personal information on malicious sites so they can commit different cybercrimes. 

Now that we have looked into ChatGPT security issues, let’s answer the most-asked question, ‘’Is ChatGPT safe to use?’’

Is ChatGPT safe?

Unfortunately, there’s no absolute answer to whether or not ChatGPT is safe. No digital solution is 100% immune to cybersecurity threats. So, the more relevant question you should be asking is, “How safe is Chat GPT?” To be precise, you should ask what are some of the ChatGPT security risks to know before using the AI Chatbot.

Most AI generative tools developed by reliable Chatbot development companies aren’t inherently dangerous. For instance, if you use ChatGPT to write an article, translate text, or do general research, you can do so without any concerns, especially if you follow recommended security practices, such as connecting to a reliable VPN server.

However, sharing your personal details, business secrets, website code, or other confidential information will put you in a riskier position. Personal details include names, contacts, addresses, social security numbers, etc.

ChatGPT processes your input, feedback, and files to generate content and store your chat history for 30 days. This is a significant window for potential ChatGPT security threats to occur. For example:

• Security Intelligence reported a data breach in the Redis open-source library, allowing users to see other users' chat history. 
• Bloomberg reported that Samsung banned employees from using ChatGPT after finding an employee uploading sensitive code on it for debugging. 

So, you can imagine what could happen if your confidential information ended up in the hands of a hacker, scammer, or malicious criminal. 

What is the vulnerability of ChatGPT?

According to Cybersecurity News, one of the main internal ChatGPT security vulnerabilities is web cache deception. This Chat GPT security risk allowed a hacker to trick the chatbot’s server’s caching systems and access users’ accounts. 

With an account takeover cyberattack, attackers can carry out various types of malicious activities by getting access to your account and potentially your device, including:

• Identity theft;
• Fraudulent transactions;
• Malware/ransomware attack;
• Extortion, etc.

Wrapping Up!

ChatGPT is undoubtedly a powerful natural language processing tool with hundreds of potential applications.However, just like any other ChatGPT alternatives, it carries certain cybersecurity risks you should carefully assess and prepare for

Hopefully, with this guide on the five main ChatGPT security risks, you can understand the potential dangers of the AI tool and prevent them from affecting your data, devices, and applications. 

For more reads related to ChatGPT risks for businesses and other trending apps in the digital landscape, tune into MobileAppDaily right away.

By Sakshi Kaushik

Content Writer (B2B Editorial)

A passionate writer and tech lover, she strives to share her expertise with mobile app developers and fellow tech enthusiasts. During her moments away from the keyboard, she relishes delving into thriller narratives, immersing herself in diverse realms.