News

Hackers Are Using ChatGPT As A Learning Tool For Malware

Hackers and cybercriminals are experimenting with the popular AI chat tool to lend a helping hand in their criminal activities.

Published

4 years ago

January 17, 2023

Nour Nasir

hackers are using chatgpt as a learning tool for malware

OpenAI’s ChatGPT tool has become something of a viral sensation over recent months, with the ability to mimic human responses and even write entire essays for students.

However, ChatGPT’s powers — like many emerging technologies — can be put to work for more nefarious activities, and we’re now beginning to see hackers jump on the AI bandwagon to help them steal personal information more effectively.

Check Point Research, a leading cyber threat intelligence agency, has discovered that Russian fraudsters are experimenting with OpenAI’s ChatGPT for malicious purposes. Hackers have been seen on underground forums discussing how to get around IP address restrictions, credit cards, and phone numbers in order to use the AI tool.

“Right now, Russian hackers are actively discussing and researching how to bypass the geofencing to utilize ChatGPT for their harmful intentions. We think these hackers are most likely attempting to incorporate and test ChatGPT into their daily illegal activities,” says Check Point’s Threat Intelligence Group Manager, Sergey Shykevich.

Unfortunately, ChatGPT is such a potent and flexible tool that it can significantly reduce hacking expenses, as well as writing convincing human conversations and false information. More worryingly, the AI can even suggest usable programming scripts, enabling scammers with zero coding experience to create harmful malware.

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Cybercrime experts haven’t yet decided whether or not ChatGPT will become a new favorite tool for dark web criminals, but it’s clear that the technology is gaining momentum. Across the MENA region, there have been multiple instances of scammers using WhatsApp and other messengers to steal user’s money, but ChatGPT could help criminals go one stage further by creating convincing conversations complete with accurate grammar.

As more free-to-use AI tools appear on the internet, hackers will find increasing opportunities to create sophisticated and legitimate-appearing phishing campaigns, making it more important than ever for the public to carefully audit their online security.

News

Visa’s Return To Syria Starts With A Test And A Bank In Lebanon

Foreign visitors will be the first users to benefit, but whether Syria’s own banks and cardholders follow is still an open question.

Published

2 weeks ago

August 27, 2026

Dana Saadeh

visa's return to syria starts with a test and a bank in lebanon

Visa is returning to Syria. Its first live international card transaction in the country was a test rather than a launch, and the milestone event ran through a Lebanese bank.

The acquirer (the bank on the merchant’s side of a card payment) was Fransabank Lebanon, with Paymera as the other named partner. Nadim Moujaes, who heads a Fransabank Group subsidiary, describes the test as both the culmination of “longstanding efforts to link Syria back to international payment networks” and “the first step in a larger path”.

Syrian President Ahmed Al-Sharaa makes the first electronic payment in Syria using a @Visa card at a store in Damascus, following the lifting of US sanctions on Syria. pic.twitter.com/lpAN7nQ6Fc

— Tech Magazine (@TechMGZN) August 27, 2026

“We are excited to have successfully tested live transactions today as we plan to enable international visitors to use their Visa cards while in Syria,” says Leila Serhan, Visa’s senior vice president and group country manager for the North Africa, Levant and Pakistan region. Although a significant first step, that plan doesn’t come with a hard date for when a visitor’s card will work normally.

Mohammed Safwat Raslan, governor of the Central Bank of Syria, says the test paves the way for international card acceptance in Syria and that maintaining strong compliance, risk management and operational controls will remain essential. Serhan likewise stresses that Visa has worked within applicable legal, regulatory and compliance requirements. For a test transaction, it seems there was a great deal of attention paid to the rules, with the entire operation being carefully managed.

Also Read: Lebanon’s 5G Era Begins With 150 Stations And A $1M Budget

The test is the latest step in a sequence that began in December 2025, when Visa announced a strategic roadmap to support Syria’s integration into the global digital economy. In February 2026 it hosted its first industry gathering of banks, ecosystem partners and policymakers in Damascus and, the same month, signed an agreement with Syria’s Ministry of Communications and Information Technology in San Francisco.

Michel Kattouah, Paymera’s CEO, called the test “the return of international card acceptance,” but while that’s positive news, there’s no word yet on when a Syrian bank will issue a Visa card to a Syrian customer.