Essay questions open models' cyber risks as 'Black October' disclosures mount
An essay reflects on whether the author was wrong about the cyber risks of open models, amid a wave of critical vulnerability disclosures and a major crypto security incident at Binance. The author notes the disclosures, including PHP2Shell and GitLab, mark a moment when AI model cyber risks began materializing, though crypto hacks have a long history and may be a poor indicator. The piece suggests behind-the-scenes security work is accelerating, with cyber first responders reported as strained.
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InterconnectsNathan Lambert
Last week coined the term “ Black October “ after an onslaught of critical vulnerability disclosures, including PHP2Shell and GitLab, signified the moment when the cyber risks of AI models started to materialize. It seemed like the news cycle had stabilized a bit when I started writing this, but then there was news about another major crypto security incident at Binance . The crypto industry has a very long history of hacks , so it’s not the best industry to indicate vulnerabilities translating into new societal harm. Still, we are very much still living through the implications of this. The best guess for what is happening in the cybersecurity space is that the behind the scenes work has only accelerated, bringing more people and resources in to try and patch the internet — the Wall Street Journal reported that cyber first responders are strained , which seems like the system working. We’re living through this plot of an exponential rise in vulnerabilities, which will take a long time
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