Artificial intelligence: Google hunts down fake Bard applications riddled with malware

In a blog post, Google explains that it has filed a complaint against a group of cybercriminals encouraging users to download a version “ unpublished ” of Google Bard, its conversational artificial intelligence (AI) agent. In reality, it is malware.

As was the case with cryptocurrencies and the many scams that emerged from them a few years ago, bad actors also want to exploit the enthusiasm around generative artificial intelligence (AI) to line their pockets. Now, Google is taking action and turning to justice to prevent this phenomenon from getting worse.

A downloadable version of Google Bard…

“ As public enthusiasm for new generative AI tools grows, scammers increasingly take advantage of unsuspecting users », Writes the Mountain View firm in a blog post. In her complaint, she targets three scammers based in Vietnam, who scam Internet users by tricking them into downloading the “ most recent version » by Google Bard.

In reality, this version is malware that enters the computer system to steal passwords and social media credentials. This type of theft generally aims to resell this data on the black market. In its complaint, Google specifies that the scammers favored Facebook to spread their scam.

Since April, the Mountain View firm has filed approximately 300 takedown requests related to this group of malicious actors. By going to court, she hopes to obtain “ an order to prevent cybercriminals from creating such domains ” and him ” allow them to be deactivated with US domain registrars “. The company points out that Google Bard is available free of charge from the Internet and does not require any download.

Google wages war on scammers

“ Legal actions are an effective tool for establishing legal precedent, disrupting the tools used by scammers, and increasing consequences for bad actors “, continues Google. A second complaint filed by the web giant targets abuse of the American Digital Millennium Copyright Act.

Bad actors use disposable Google accounts to submit thousands of false copyright claims against competing companies, which can result in website removal and high costs to remedy the situation. “ These fraudulent claims caused over 100,000 companies to take down their sites, costing them millions of dollars and thousands of lost employee hours. », denounces Google.

The firm hopes its move will act as a deterrent and provide a clear mechanism to prevent similar scams in the future.

Sources: The Verge, Google