If you have ever used the ChatGPT website, you may want to check your chat history and change your password because some users have reported seeing private conversations belonging to others.
A user shared with a security news publication some screenshots of his ChatGPT account, where he found chats that included usernames and passwords for a pharmacy portal, details of an unpublished research proposal, and a script using the PHP programming language. These chats were not his, and he had no idea who they belonged to.
He noticed the chats after he had used ChatGPT for an unrelated query. He also said he used a strong password that he didn't use anywhere else and doubted his account was compromised.
How could it happen? Remember, ChatGPT started with OpenAI ((the company behind ChatGPT) scraping the entire Internet for data. If a website was incorrectly built and revealed usernames and passwords, order history, or other sensitive information, it would end up as part of data collection.
OpenAI advised the user to change his password and said they were working on improving their security measures. This is not the first time that ChatGPT has faced privacy issues. Last year, the site was taken offline after a bug showed titles from one user's chat history to unrelated users. In November, researchers demonstrated how they could trick ChatGPT into revealing personal data, such as email addresses, phone numbers, and physical addresses, that was used to train the AI model.
These incidents raise questions about the safety and ethics of using AI chatbots, especially when they involve sensitive or confidential information. They also remind us of the importance of using strong passwords and two-factor authentication, which are basic but effective ways to protect our online accounts.
If you are a ChatGPT user, please review your chat history and change your password as soon as possible.
#ALTACyber
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Genady Vishnevetsky
Chief Info Security Officer
Stewart Title Guaranty Company
Houston TX
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