A recent data breach in OpenAI's ChatGPT server has created panic among millions of users. But the real danger is different from what they fear.
It is high time for AI development companies to realize that they are not only sitting on a goldmine of data treasure but also keeping at the edge of leaking to unwanted individuals and organizations. A recent report by the NYT revealed on 4th July 2024, that OpenAI suffered an undisclosed security breach back in early 2023. The company neither revealed it to the public nor reported the incident to the cybercrime division. The tech giant claims that no personal information of customers was lost, and that disqualifies the attack as a national security threat.
After the recent NYT report went viral, OpenAI opened up about the cyber attack. It revealed that the breach was not on the main servers running and developing AI technologies but on an employee discussion forum. The company could easily reduce the importance of this sophisticated attack as it ultimately traced down to a single person with no known association with any foreign government.
An ex-employee of OpenAI, Leopold Aschenbrenner, said in a podcast that the company had suffered a major security incident. AI development companies need to be much more focused on enhancing security than tapping pure innovation. As always in the tech landscape, every new innovation opens up doors to new technical loopholes. If found by the right or wrong people, it can cause serious damage not only to their platform’s security but also to the millions of users they have garnered globally.
Cybercrimes are rising at an alarming rate, not only as individual entities but through the development of their own AI capabilities. In times like these, no attack should be treated as trivial, as even eavesdropping on internal employee discussions can reveal deeper secrets, which can later favor the attackers. However, this attack was far from breaching the high-end servers and provided enough time to the company to develop stricter surveillance and prevention measures.
