OpenAI Details

    Organization Logo

    OpenAI

    San Francisco, California • 500 employees • Technology

    https://openai.com/
    United States

    Industry

    Technology

    Security Incidents

    2

    OpenAI is an artificial intelligence research organization founded in December 2015 by Elon Musk, Sam Altman, Greg Brockman, Ilya Sutskever, John Schulman, and Wojciech Zaremba. The primary aim of OpenAI is to ensure that artificial general intelligence (AGI) benefits all of humanity and mitigates the risks associated with it. OpenAI conducts research in machine learning and AI, producing notable technologies such as the GPT (Generative Pre-trained Transformer) language models, including the famed GPT-3 and the more recent iterations, which are capable of understanding and generating human-lik...
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    Security Incidents

    OpenAI Breach of Mar 2023
    Severity Score
    Low to Moderate

    Type

    Other

    Summary

    In early 2023, OpenAI experienced a security breach involving the theft of discussions from an employee forum, but no systems related to AI functionality, customer, or partner data were compromised. The incident, believed to be the work of a single individual with no foreign government ties, was not publicly disclosed, nor was the FBI notified, due to its perceived lack of impact on national security. Internally, this breach sparked debate about OpenAI's commitment to security. Leopold Aschenbrenner, a technical program manager at OpenAI, was fired after expressing concerns that the company wa...
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    Severity

    The OpenAI breach in early 2023 involved the theft of internal employee discussions from an employee forum, without compromising systems housing AI or exposing customer information. OpenAI chose not to disclose the incident publicly or inform the FBI, deeming it a non-threat to national security, and attributed the attack to a lone individual without foreign government ties. While the breach itself seemed contained, it sparked internal debates over the company's security posture, leading to the firing of a program manager who voiced concerns about future threats, particularly from foreign adve...
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    Impact

    The breach at OpenAI in early 2023 was primarily an unauthorized access to an employee forum, with no intrusion into systems housing or building their AI technologies. No customer or partner data was compromised, and hence, OpenAI did not report the incident to the FBI, deeming it not a national security threat. Although internal company discussions were stolen, significant intellectual property, such as source code, was not leaked. The incident highlighted internal concerns about OpenAI's security posture, particularly regarding protection against potential future threats from foreign adversa...
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    OpenAI Breach of Sep 2024
    Severity Score
    Moderate

    Type

    3rd Party Compromise

    Summary

    On September 23, 2024, the official OpenAI Newsroom account on X (formerly Twitter) was compromised. Cybercriminals took control of the account [@OpenAINewsroom] and used it to promote a fraudulent cryptocurrency called "$OPENAI." The misleading post invited followers to participate in the alleged launch of the cryptocurrency, claiming it would provide access to future beta programs and linking to a counterfeit website.

    The malicious site prompted users to connect their cryptocurrency wallets, risking financial loss for unsuspecting victims. The X community reacted swiftly, flagging the unaut...
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    Severity

    The compromise of the official OpenAI Newsroom X (formerly Twitter) account resulted in the promotion of a fraudulent cryptocurrency called “$OPENAI.” This scam targeted the account's nearly 54,000 followers and directed users to a counterfeit website with the intent of obtaining access to their cryptocurrency wallets, which could have led to significant financial losses.

    The incident was rapidly flagged by the vigilant X community, highlighting that this was the fourth such compromise of an OpenAI account in the past 15 months, signaling a concerning pattern. With no immediate response from...
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    Impact

    The recent cyber incident involving OpenAI resulted in a significant compromise of their official OpenAINewsroom account on X (formerly Twitter). Hackers used the account to promote a fraudulent cryptocurrency called "$OPENAI," leading users to a counterfeit website encouraging them to connect their cryptocurrency wallets, which could have resulted in financial loss. The scam was quickly identified by vigilant X users, but unfortunately, no immediate response from OpenAI or X was provided to alleviate concerns or clarify the situation.

    This incident has broader implications for both the compa...
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