Uh Oh, ChatGPT is Down Again – But This Time It’s Not Just Because of its Popularity.
Looks like ChatGPT is having some more issues today. Users are getting error messages saying the chatbot is at capacity whenever they try to connect.
At first, OpenAI thought these new outages were just from tons of people trying out the incredible features they unveiled earlier this week. Makes sense given how insanely viral ChatGPT has gone lately!
OpenAI Confirms It Was a DDoS Attack From Russia
But after investigation, OpenAI confirmed the culprit is actually a DDoS attack flooding their system. For those unfamiliar with cyber lingo, DDoS stands for Distributed Denial-of-Service. Basically hackers overwhelm a site with traffic to take it down. Not cool. I mean, seriously, who has that kind of time?! And, why would anyone waste their own time doing that? I will never get the hacker mentality.
Anyway, OpenAI hasn’t shared specifics yet about this attack. But the hacking group Anonymous Sudan claimed responsibility, which security experts link back to Russia. This mirrors other services Russia has targeted since the Ukraine invasion began.
The timing lines up too. OpenAI said issues started yesterday and continued today. They initially thought they’d fixed it earlier, only to have more “periodic outages” pop up. That fits the pattern of a DDoS attack in waves.
Outages also briefly hit Anthropic’s Claude chatbot today. No word if it’s connected, but definitely something to watch. With multiple AI chatbots down, this could point to a coordinated effort to disrupt the space.
Or it may just be unfortunate timing with separate causes. OpenAI’s insane viral popularity likely made it an easy target. Still, these attacks highlight how vulnerable cloud-based AI systems can be. This is a good reminder to be cautious about the intel you give these AI bots. Never, ever give it proprietary information or your company’s intellectual property because while a DDoS attack doesn’t necessarily put your intel at risk. It is a reminder that other attacks could follow.
What do you think of ChatGPT being targeted with a DDoS attack? Is this just the beginning of AI services facing security issues as the tech advances? I just reported on Google and Anthropic’s partnership around safety and security. So, clearly they see the need to strengthen their protocol protections. Let me know your thoughts in the comments!
And, stay tuned for more updates as OpenAI shares details on getting ChatGPT back up and running smoothly. Fingers crossed the outages end very soon!
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Read more: DDoS Attack Responsible for Ongoing ChatGPT Outage
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