OpenAI says a China-linked group tried to phish its employees
OpenAI said a group with apparent ties to China attempted a phishing attack on its employees, raising concerns that bad actors in Beijing want to steal sensitive information from top US artificial intelligence companies.
The AI startup said Wednesday that a suspected China-based group called SweetSpecter posed as a user of OpenAI’s chatbot ChatGPT earlier this year and sent customer support emails to staff. The emails contained malware attachments that, if opened, would have allowed SweetSpecter to take screenshots and exfiltrate data, OpenAI said, but the attempt was unsuccessful.
“OpenAI’s security team contacted employees believed to be targets of this spearphishing campaign and discovered that existing security controls prevented the emails from ever reaching their work emails,” OpenAI said.
The revelation highlights the potential cybersecurity risks for leading AI companies as the US and China engage in a high-stakes battle for artificial intelligence supremacy. For example, in March, a former Google engineer was accused of stealing AI trade secrets for a Chinese company.
The Chinese government has repeatedly denied US accusations that organizations in the country are conducting cyber attacks and accusing external parties of orchestrating smear campaigns.
OpenAI revealed the attempted phishing attack as part of its latest threat intelligence report, which outlines its efforts to combat influence operations around the world. In the report, OpenAI said it removed accounts from groups with ties to Iran and China that used AI to help with coding, conducting research and other tasks.
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