Most domains containing phrase ‘ChatGPT’ are potentially harmful: Leading cyber security firm

According to recent analysis by DNSSense, a leading provider of AI-driven cyber security solutions, 78% of active domains with the phrase ‘ChatGPT’ contain viruses, malware and other malicious content.

Johannesburg, 08 Jun 2023

In recent months, ChatGPT has taken the computing world by storm. A transformative AI-driven chatbot, ChatGPT uses natural language processing technology to create realistic dialogue that is almost indistinguishable from that generated by human beings.

“ChatGPT is revolutionising the way content is created,” said Abdullah Kaymakc, DNSSense Regional Channel Sales Director. “Unfortunately, it also has a dark side that is easily exploited by cyber criminals.”

According to a recent study by BlackBerry, one in two IT leaders now believe that ChatGPT will be used with increasing frequency to carry out cyber attacks.

Invaluable tool for content creators

Despite its relative youth, ChatGPT has already achieved undreamt of success. Following its initial launch in the first quarter of 2023, ChatGPT now boasts more than 100 million active users worldwide.

The pioneering AI-driven chatbot has already become an invaluable tool for content creators, marketers and software engineers. It is also helping to pave the way for further advancements in AI technology.

But despite its vast transformative potential – or because of it – ChatGPT has also proven extremely popular with hackers. “As usual, bad actors have swiftly mastered this new technology to take advantage of unwary users,” said Huseyin Erdal, Head of Sales at DNSSense.

Wake-up call

To gain a better understanding of potential risks, DNSSense recently scanned the entire internet for registered domains that contain the phrase “ChatGPT” and its findings were astonishing.

“We found 4 113 active domains with the word ‘ChatGPT’, of which 3 240 – or 78% – were potentially malicious,” Erdal explained. “Of these, 1 993 are used to stage phishing attacks, 1 217 contain potentially malicious content and another 30 contain malware or viruses.

“These findings should serve as a wake-up call – for both individuals and businesses – about the dire need to protect themselves in today’s increasingly dangerous online environment,” he added.

Fighting fire with fire

To conduct its analysis, DNSSense employed its Cyber X-Ray solution, an AI-driven domain categorisation tool. “Thanks to Cyber X-Ray’s threat intelligence capabilities, we were able to gather crucial information on potential cyber risks,” Kaymakç said.

“Our AI algorithms allow us to glean dynamic cyber threat intelligence and classification of virtually all domains on the internet,” he added. “By combining historical and relational data, we were able to draw our conclusions.”

Notably, Cyber X-Ray also drives two other cutting-edge security solutions developed by DNSSense: namely, DNSEye and DNSSome. “In today’s environment, you have to fight fire with fire,” Kaymakç said. “To protect against AI-driven security threats, you need AI-driven security solutions.”

For more information, please visit: www.dnssense.com.

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