ChatGPT Security Breach Alleged for Leaking Private Conversations

2024-01-31

OpenAI recently issued a statement explaining the recent incident of ChatGPT chat history leakage, which was caused by the user's ChatGPT account being compromised. According to the investigation, the unauthorized login activity originated from Sri Lanka, as stated by an OpenAI representative. User Chase Whiteside immediately changed his password upon discovering the account breach. He mentioned using a nine-character password containing a combination of uppercase and lowercase letters, as well as special characters, which he only used for his Microsoft account. He suspects that his account may have been compromised. OpenAI's investigation revealed that some recent conversations were created from Sri Lanka, aligning with the timeframe of successful logins from Sri Lanka. This indicates a case of account takeover, where someone provided a set of credentials to an external community or proxy server for distributing free access. This incident has sparked discussions about account security and website protection measures. Although OpenAI states that they are taking steps to prevent such incidents from happening again, many users still have concerns about account security. Additionally, it serves as a reminder for users to remove personal information as much as possible when using ChatGPT and other AI services to protect their privacy and security. Furthermore, last March, OpenAI, the manufacturer of ChatGPT, took the AI chatbot offline after an error caused the website to display a title of an active user's chat history to unrelated users. In November of last year, researchers published a paper reporting how they used queries to induce ChatGPT to leak personal data, such as email addresses, phone and fax numbers, physical addresses, and other private information contained in the materials used to train the large language model of ChatGPT. These incidents serve as reminders that we must remain vigilant in protecting personal information when using AI services.