

Following a couple tweaks, the code was successfully obfuscated, and none of the vendors identified it as malware. The first time the malware was uploaded to VirusTotal, five vendors flagged it as malicious.

Still, Mulgrew was able to do that after only a few attempts. However, obfuscating the code to avoid detection proved tricky, as ChatGPT recognizes such requests as unethical and refuses to comply with them. This time around, he was successful in his endeavor, with ChatGPT creating the contentious code that bypassed detection by all anti-malware apps on VirusTotal. He then decided to get creative and asked the AI tool to generate small snippets of helper code before manually putting the entire executable together. Mulgrew started off by asking ChatGPT directly to develop the malware, but that made the chatbot's guardrails kick into action and it bluntly refused to carry out the task on ethical grounds.

He also used steganography, which hides secret data within an regular file or message in order to avoid detection. Alarmingly, the malware even evaded detection from all vendors on VirusTotal.įorcepoint's Aaron Mulgrew said he decided early on in the malware creation process not to write any code himself and use only advanced techniques that are typically employed by sophisticated threat actors like rogue nation states.ĭescribing himself as a "novice" in malware development, Mulgrew said he used Go implementation language not only for its ease of development, but also because he could manually debug the code if needed. While most developers will use the feature for completely harmless purposes, a new report suggests it can also be used by malicious actors to create malware despite the safeguards put in place by OpenAI.Ī cybersecurity researcher claims to have used ChatGPT to develop a zero-day exploit that can steal data from a compromised device. The AI tool can even generate functional code as long as it is given a well-written and clear prompt. In context: Ever since its launch last year, ChatGPT has created ripples among tech enthusiasts with its ability to write articles, poems, movie scripts, and more.
