A hacker said they purloined personal details from millions of OpenAI accounts-but researchers are doubtful, and the business is examining.
OpenAI says it's investigating after a hacker claimed to have swiped login credentials for 20 million of the AI company's user accounts-and put them up for sale on a dark web online forum.
The pseudonymous breacher published a puzzling message in Russian advertising "more than 20 million gain access to codes to OpenAI accounts," calling it "a goldmine" and buyers what they claimed was sample information containing email addresses and passwords. As reported by Gbhackers, the full dataset was being offered for sale "for simply a couple of dollars."
"I have more than 20 million gain access to codes for OpenAI accounts," emirking wrote Thursday, according to a translated screenshot. "If you're interested, reach out-this is a goldmine, and Jesus agrees."
If legitimate, this would be the 3rd major security occurrence for the AI business considering that the release of ChatGPT to the general public. In 2015, a hacker got access to the company's internal Slack messaging system. According to The New York City Times, the hacker "stole details about the style of the business's A.I. technologies."
Before that, in 2023 an even easier bug including jailbreaking prompts enabled hackers to obtain the private information of OpenAI's paying customers.
This time, nevertheless, security scientists aren't even sure a hack happened. Daily Dot press reporter Mikael Thalan composed on X that he discovered void email addresses in the expected sample information: "No evidence (suggests) this supposed OpenAI breach is genuine. At least two addresses were invalid. The user's just other post on the forum is for a thief log. Thread has since been erased also."
No evidence this alleged OpenAI breach is legitimate.
Contacted every email address from the purported sample of login qualifications.
A minimum of 2 addresses were void. The user's only other post on the forum is for a stealer log. Thread has because been erased as well. https://t.co/yKpmxKQhsP
- Mikael Thalen (@MikaelThalen) February 6, 2025
OpenAI takes it 'seriously'
In a declaration shared with Decrypt, an OpenAI spokesperson acknowledged the circumstance while maintaining that the business's systems appeared protected.
"We take these claims seriously," the representative said, setiathome.berkeley.edu adding: "We have actually not seen any evidence that this is connected to a compromise of OpenAI systems to date."
The scope of the supposed breach stimulated concerns due to OpenAI's massive user base. Millions of users worldwide count on the company's tools like ChatGPT for service operations, instructional functions, timeoftheworld.date and content generation. A legitimate breach could expose personal discussions, business tasks, and other delicate information.
Until there's a last report, some preventive measures are always a good idea:
- Go to the "Configurations" tab, log out from all linked devices, and make it possible for two-factor authentication or 2FA. This makes it essentially impossible for a hacker to gain access to the account, even if the login and passwords are compromised.
- If your bank supports it, then create a virtual card number to manage OpenAI memberships. By doing this, it is easier to spot and avoid fraud.
- Always watch on the discussions saved in the chatbot's memory, and dokuwiki.stream be mindful of any phishing attempts. OpenAI does not ask for any individual details, and any payment update is always handled through the main OpenAI.com link.