OpenAI Suspects China-Based Group SweetSpecter of Spear Phishing Campaign

Recently, OpenAI reportedly thwarted an attempt at phishing attributed to a China-based group called SweetSpecter. The particular cyber attack aimed at breaching the sensitive information of the firm has underscored the increasingly worsening threat posed by cybersecurity risks.

As the US and China battle it out in the raging AI race, the country's top artificial intelligence companies are increasingly at the receiving end of these heinous moves.

SweetSpecter on the Move to Infiltrate OpenAI

OpenAI Suspects China-Based Group SweetSpecter of Spear Phishing Campaign

A much earlier attack in the year occurred when SweetSpecter is said to have pretended as one of the users of the OpenAI's chatbot called ChatGPT, Bloomberg reports.

Posing themselves as legitimate customers, it sent some emails to support staff working at OpenAI whose attachments are maltreated with malware. Once these opened, malware would have enabled them to capture screenshots or exfiltrate data. Thankfully, OpenAI security countermeasures repelled the breach, and no sensitive information was compromised.

High-Stakes Battle for AI Supremacy

This foiled attack brings to light the increasing threats that major AI companies like OpenAI are experiencing in matters of cybersecurity.

Even though the US and China remain in perpetual competition to control the world's AI race, there is now more increased specter of cyberattacks by these foreign players, a threat that would expose sensitive data and trade secrets.

"OpenAI's security team contacted employees who were believed to have been targeted in this spear phishing campaign and found that existing security controls prevented the emails from ever reaching their corporate emails," OpenAI said regarding the SweetSpecter attack.

One such incident of this nature occurred earlier this year when a former Google engineer faced charges for allegedly having stolen AI trade secrets and passed them to a Chinese company. Such incidents once again remind us of the need to safeguard AI innovations from espionage.

China's government has dismissed claims numerous times accusing the country of its involvement in cyberattacks, dubbing US claims as part of a "smear campaign" against the country.

However, there have been several reports from various sources of cybersecurity experts stating that Chinese organizations may be involved in cyber activities in an effort towards strategic advantage in the AI sector.

OpenAI Remains Cautious Over Cyber Threats

OpenAI revealed this phishing attempt in its comprehensive threat intelligence report on how the company has remained and continued to handle the influence of operations and cyber threats all over the world.

According to the report, accounts directly linked with Iran and China have been knocked down by OpenAI for using AI tools for tasks such as coding, research, and many other things.

OpenAI wants to keep not only its proprietary information but a share of the changing future of artificial intelligence, leading by one step ahead in all potential threats. Companies and governments took this very seriously because artificial intelligence is continuously driving innovation in industries.

AI Security in a Global Context

The failure of the phishing attack on OpenAI has raised vulnerabilities in AI companies to cyber threats perpetrated by foreign actors, especially against the United States and China who are apparently rivals in AI.