The new AI tool, WormGPT, enables hackers to launch attacks

The newly discovered artificial intelligence-based tool, WormGPT, could allow hackers to execute sophisticated attacks against its targets.

The sudden surge of generative AI tools has become essential for some workers as some organisations adopt the kit. However, malicious entities are beginning to repurpose AI-based tools to make it an advantage for their cybercriminal activities.

 

WormGPT is the latest addition to malicious AI cybercrime tool that aids threat actors.

 

According to reports, the new generative artificial intelligence-based cybercriminal kit called WormGPT has been circulating on underground forums. The tool allows its operators to deploy sophisticated phishing and business email compromise attacks.

The researchers explained that this newly discovered tool presents itself as an alternative to GPT models, designed to focus on cybercriminal activities primarily. Sophisticated and wannabe hackers could use such technology to automate the development of compelling fake emails specially crafted for the recipient, thus increasing the odds of an attack being successful.

The software developer claimed that it could be the most prominent enemy of the popular ChatGPT and could let anyone do all sorts of illegal activities.

Tools like the WormGPT could be a powerful kit for a malicious actor, especially as Google Bard and ChatGPT are increasingly taking steps to prevent the abuse of large language models (LLMs) to generate convincing phishing emails and develop malicious code.

The researchers also emphasised that Bard’s anti-abuse restrictors in the field of cybersecurity are significantly lower compared to those of ChatGPT. Hence, Bard’s capabilities could allow a more straightforward method to generate malicious content.

Earlier this year, an Israel-based cybersecurity company revealed how threat actors are working to bypass ChatGPT’s restriction by exploiting its API. Furthermore, the attackers have already traded stolen premium accounts and sold brute-force software kits to infiltrate ChatGPT accounts through huge lists of email addresses and passwords.

The numerous capabilities offered by WormGPT, combined with the unrestricted threat posed by a generative AI, could be detrimental to everybody. Therefore, cybersecurity experts expect multiple threat actors to adopt this new AI-based tool.