Ransomiciel: When computer pirates threaten to transmit blocked data to cause AI

Knowing how to renew is knowing how to last … while ransomics are now part of the usual panorama of cyber attacks, the attackers have just brought an original touch. Used by computer pirates, these whites of malware have access to a device or files provided that the victim has not paid the rescue. And until now, these cybercriminals have been pressure on threatening to destroy stolen data or make them public.

But in the era of artificial intelligence, they now go further. As 404 Media reports, the artist and client site, which has linked independent artists with interested clients, has been the victim of a ransomiciel since the end of August. With computer pirates that, in addition to the usual ultimatums, also threaten to transmit stolen data to AI actors so that they can train their models.

“If you use this website, we invite you to contact the owners and demand that they pay our rescue. If this rescue is not paid, we will publish all the data on this site for (…) In addition, we will send all the works to the AI ​​companies so that it is added to the training data games,” said Lunalock, the group in the origin of this attack, accessible.

A serious threat to artists

The computer pirates pressed the artists to communicate with the owners of artists and clients because they know that many of them oppose the use of their works to train AI without their authorization. Since the launch of Chatgpt, in November 2022, many creatives have filed a complaint against companies, such as Midjourney or OpenAi, for this reason.

The pirates did not indicate how they intend to transmit stolen data to these companies. In their message, they request a rescue of $ 50,000 with a regressive account of several days. In addition to the works of artists, stolen information also includes email addresses and user passwords.

The lunalock group has encouraged them to take their threat seriously. “If we do not comply with our part of the contract, eliminating the stolen data and decipher the files, nobody will pay us. It is of our interest to be honest. We want them to pay us, wish their files,” he said frequently, as shown in the captures.