China takes decisive action against cyber threats, arresting four individuals linked to the sophisticated ChatGPT ransomware attacks.
An unidentified company in Hangzhou, the capital of eastern Zhejiang province, became the first reported victim of AI-powered ransomware. Hackers demanded $20,000 in cryptocurrency to restore and unblock the company’s system access.
The state-run Xinhua News Agency reported that authorities in Beijing and Inner Mongolia arrested two suspects each in late November. The GPT criminals admitted to various activities, including crafting ransomware versions, optimizing programs with ChatGPT, executing vulnerability scans, infiltrating systems, implanting ransomware, and engaging in extortion. Notably, the police report does not specify whether charges include the use of ChatGPT.
China has banned ChatGPT and is considering extending this prohibition to any apps suspected of using the AI program. Concurrently, domestic companies are developing locally-produced AI-powered large language models. Baidu recently announced that its Ernie Bot, akin to ChatGPT, has garnered over 100 million users.
While AI-powered tools haven’t significantly changed the cybercrime landscape, there are numerous unauthorized ChatGPT clones designed for nefarious purposes. However, these clones, as per Sophos researchers, haven’t proven highly effective for cybercriminals.
Despite this, generative AI is already employed for deception. Hiya’s researchers indicate that scammers, armed with voice-cloning technology, can try to persuade victims by impersonating relatives or officials.
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