Home TechnologyWormGPT: The ChatGPT Alternative Exploited by Cybercriminals for Advanced Phishing Attacks
Unlike ChatGPT or Google’s Bard, WormGPT lacks safety measures to prevent it from responding to malicious content. This AI tool has no ethical boundaries and poses a significant threat when misused by cybercriminals.
The growing popularity of ChatGPT has led to the rise of “generative Artificial Intelligence AI” products capable of generating new text passages, images, and other media. While these tools have been praised for their abilities, they have also raised concerns about their potential to produce false information, thanks to their strong command of human language grammar. Moreover, the proliferation of fake content and the subsequent increase in cybercrime have also become concerning issues.
WormGPT, which is an alternative to ChatGPT, has confirmed these fears, as cybercriminals have started leveraging this AI tool to orchestrate sophisticated phishing attacks. WormGPT, similar to ChatGPT, is based on a generative pre-trained transformer model (GPTJ) language model designed to generate text resembling human language. However, the critical difference lies in the absence of safety features in WormGPT to prevent it from responding to malicious content. This lack of boundaries allows cybercriminals to engage in various illicit activities. For instance, they can create malware content in Python coding language or develop persuasive and intricate phishing emails for attacks such as Business Email Compromise (BEC). Consequently, cybercriminals now have the means to craft convincing fake emails and specifically target vulnerable individuals for phishing assaults. In essence, WormGPT disregards any ethical limitations imposed on ChatGPT.
The developer of WormGPT revealed the true intention behind this project, stating, “This project (WormGPT) aims to provide an alternative to ChatGPT, one that lets you do all sorts of illegal stuff and easily sell it online in the future. Everything blackhat related that you can think of can be done with WormGPT, allowing anyone access to malicious activity without ever leaving the comfort of their home,” as reported by PC Magazine.
To defend against AI-generated phishing attacks, it is crucial to take preventive measures, including:
1. Email verification: Enforce a rigorous email verification process that carefully examines email IDs, dates, and other details, considering the AI tools’ ability to generate highly persuasive emails.
2. Firewalls: Implement high-quality firewalls to act as barriers between your computer, yourself, and external intruders. It is advisable to use both desktop and network firewalls.
3. Stay informed about phishing techniques: Stay updated on the latest phishing scams that evolve over time, ensuring you remain vigilant in identifying and avoiding them.
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