Experts alarmed

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The hackers under observation have so far only used the AI programs gradually and have not yet achieved a breakthrough, emphasized Microsoft manager Burt.

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Technology in itself is never evil - it is people who decide how it is used. State-backed hackers from China, Russia, North Korea and Iran are now using artificial intelligence (AI) for their devious attacks.

Internal investigations have revealed that these groups are using OpenAI's ChatGPT program to refine their methods, Microsoft announced on Wednesday. The software company is a major shareholder in OpenAI.

"Regardless of whether there is a violation of the law or the terms of use, we simply do not want the actors we have identified to have access to this technology," said Tom Burt, vice president of customer security at Microsoft, in an interview with the Reuters news agency. However, he would not comment on the extent of these activities or the number of blocked user accounts.

Russia, North Korea and Iran were initially unavailable for comment. China criticized the accusations as "baseless slander". Western experts have long warned against the misuse of AI by criminals. However, there is little evidence of this so far.

AI formulates credible phishing emails
The hackers observed have so far only used the AI programs gradually and have not yet achieved a breakthrough, emphasized Microsoft manager Burt. "They are using this technology like everyone else." Iranian and North Korean groups prefer to use AI to formulate more credible "phishing emails" to trick victims into revealing login details and passwords.

Russian cybercriminals with suspected links to the intelligence service there, in turn, were researching "various satellite and radar technologies that could relate to military operations in Ukraine". China asked AI about foreign intelligence services or individual personalities.