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The scariest "user support" email I've received

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Re: The scariest "user support" email I've received

#201

Post by Freak_NL »

mort96 wrote: post #177
radu_floricica wrote: post #176

Earlier quoted context omitted.

"Why use a calculator all the time? Just use pen and paper!" ChatGPT is the right tool here, because it does the job, and it's more versatile. And underneath the hood it most likely called a decoder anyways.

Nah this is more like, "Why do you consult the vibes oracle to compute 7 * 5? Just use a calculator!" .. which is, to be honest, a criticism I would make if I saw someone try to ask ChatGPT to do math .. and, FWIW, that is exactly what's happening here; base64 decode is just math

For 7 × 5 using a calculator should not even be a thing for most people. Sure, some people just can't do the basic tables, but most people should be able to tell how much seven €5 items cost in a supermarket. If you could do this as a teenager, but lost that skill afterwards, you are just sacrificing your brain.

Re: The scariest "user support" email I've received

#202

Post by Zobat »

torben-friis wrote: post #186
johnisgood wrote: post #174

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I mean some people asked what "cat" is, then I remembered there was a time when I had no idea how to use mIRC, so whatever. In my defense though, I was REALLY young.

>In my defense though, I was REALLY young. No need to apologize, needing an excuse to lack knowledge is how we end up with people afraid to ask. I try to make it visible when I’m among juniors and there’s something I don’t know. I think showing the process of “I realize I miss some knowledge => here’s how I bridge the gap” might help against the current trend of going through the motions in the dark. It used to be th…

Totally agree, try to never be afraid or embarrassed of not knowing.

https://xkcd.com/1053/

Re: The scariest "user support" email I've received

#203

Post by 63stack »

radu_floricica wrote: post #176
mort96 wrote: post #157

Why would you ask ChatGPT to tell you what a base64-encoded string is? Just base64 decode it! This blog post's "investigation" is worthless when it's just copy/pasting what a chat bot said. There is no reason to rely on a chat bot for this.

"Why use a calculator all the time? Just use pen and paper!" ChatGPT is the right tool here, because it does the job, and it's more versatile. And underneath the hood it most likely called a decoder anyways.

ChatGPT failed at doing the job, and it was the wrong tool to use.

It explained that it saves a file and executes it. That's a nothingburger, it was obvious it's going to execute some code.

The actual value would have been showing what's in the executed file, but of course it didn't show that (since that would have required actually executing the code).

Showing the contents of the file would have provided an exact and accurate information on what the malware is trying to do. ChatGPT gave a vague "it executes some code".

Re: The scariest "user support" email I've received

#204

Post by prasadjoglekar »

mort96 wrote: post #157

Why would you ask ChatGPT to tell you what a base64-encoded string is? Just base64 decode it! This blog post's "investigation" is worthless when it's just copy/pasting what a chat bot said. There is no reason to rely on a chat bot for this.

Easy, quick sandbox.

Re: The scariest "user support" email I've received

#205

Post by radu_floricica »

radu_floricica wrote: post #176
mort96 wrote: post #157

Why would you ask ChatGPT to tell you what a base64-encoded string is? Just base64 decode it! This blog post's "investigation" is worthless when it's just copy/pasting what a chat bot said. There is no reason to rely on a chat bot for this.

"Why use a calculator all the time? Just use pen and paper!" ChatGPT is the right tool here, because it does the job, and it's more versatile. And underneath the hood it most likely called a decoder anyways.

To most of the replies to my comment, the point is that:

- ChatGPT is _satisficing_, not optimal. It's definitely worse than a dedicated decoder tool.

- and it's also much more versatile, so it will be satisficing a large array of tasks.

So in scenarios where precision isn't critical and the stakes are mid, it'll simply become the default tool.

Like googling something instead of checking out wikipedia. Or checking out wikipedia instead of using those mythical primary sources. etc.

Re: The scariest "user support" email I've received

#206

Post by justinclift »

radu_floricica wrote: post #205
radu_floricica wrote: post #176

Earlier quoted context omitted.

"Why use a calculator all the time? Just use pen and paper!" ChatGPT is the right tool here, because it does the job, and it's more versatile. And underneath the hood it most likely called a decoder anyways.

To most of the replies to my comment, the point is that: - ChatGPT is _satisficing_, not optimal. It's definitely worse than a dedicated decoder tool. - and it's also much more versatile, so it will be satisficing a large array of tasks. So in scenarios where precision isn't critical and the stakes are mid, it'll simply become the default tool. Like googling something instead of checking out wikipedia. Or checking ou…

> ChatGPT is _satisficing_, not optimal.

But is it _always_ accurate?

The answer to that is important when there are security implications.

Re: The scariest "user support" email I've received

#207

Post by account42 »

mort96 wrote: post #157

Why would you ask ChatGPT to tell you what a base64-encoded string is? Just base64 decode it! This blog post's "investigation" is worthless when it's just copy/pasting what a chat bot said. There is no reason to rely on a chat bot for this.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Echoborg

I am (not) looking forward to a future where people are unable to perform the simplest tasks because their digital brain has an outage and they have forgotten how to think for themselves.

Re: The scariest "user support" email I've received

#208

Post by account42 »

jb1991 wrote: post #162
mort96 wrote: post #157

Why would you ask ChatGPT to tell you what a base64-encoded string is? Just base64 decode it! This blog post's "investigation" is worthless when it's just copy/pasting what a chat bot said. There is no reason to rely on a chat bot for this.

You are forgetting the world we live in now where, as time passes, fewer and fewer people will know how to do anything on their own and more and more will only accomplish things by using AI.

And we should call out and shame that behavior wherever we can just like our teachers were not amused when we simply copied from a Wikipedia article instead of following the referenced sources.

Re: The scariest "user support" email I've received

#209

Post by swiftcoder »

seb1204 wrote: post #185
swiftcoder wrote: post #182

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I don't read the response that way - it reads like fairly reasonable wording for a frustrated and moderately technical user. "I'm still having trouble" as in "my problem hasn't magically resolved itself since the last email". And "using the latest version of Firefox" as in "I'm going to preempt the IT guy asking me to install updates".

To me guidance is more than a simple reply asking for more information. This immediately stood out to me, flag.

IMO it's a fairly common ESL-phrasing for something like "thanks for your help"

Re: The scariest "user support" email I've received

#210

Post by bmicraft »

snailmailman wrote: post #183
mort96 wrote: post #157

Why would you ask ChatGPT to tell you what a base64-encoded string is? Just base64 decode it! This blog post's "investigation" is worthless when it's just copy/pasting what a chat bot said. There is no reason to rely on a chat bot for this.

these AI services also won't really distinguish between "user input" and "malicious input that the user is asking about". Obviously the input here was only designed to be run in a terminal, but if it was some sort of prompt injection attack instead, the AI might not simply decode the base64, it might do something else.

It could even conceivably be both
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