Recent Artificial Intelligence Hype is Used for Phishbait

Stu Sjouwerman | Apr 12, 2023

AI PhishingCuriosity leads people to suspend their better judgment as a new campaign of credential theft exploits a person’s excitement about the newest AI systems not yet available to the general public. On Tuesday morning, April 11th, Veriti explained that several unknown actors are making false Facebook ads which advertise a free download of AIs like ChatGPT and Google Bard. 

Veriti writes “These posts are designed to appear legitimate, using the buzz around openAI language models to trick unsuspecting users into downloading the files. However, once the user downloads and extracts the file, the Redline Stealer (aka RedStealer) malware is activated and is capable of stealing passwords and downloading further malware onto the user's device.”

Veriti describes the capabilities of the Redline Stealer malware which, once downloaded, can take sensitive information like credit card numbers, passwords, and personal information like user location, and hardware. Veriti added “The malware can upload and download files, execute commands, and send back information about the infected computer at regular intervals.”

Experts recommend using official google or openAI websites to learn when their products will be available and only downloading files from reputable sources. With the rising use of Google and Facebook ads as attack vectors experts also suggest refraining from clicking on suspicious advertisements promising early access to any product on the Internet.

Employees can be helped to develop sound security habits like these through new school security awareness training.

Veriti has the story.

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