Summary
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OpenAI’s Lockdown mode blocks live outgoing network requests to stop LLM hijacking attempts.
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It trades off some features for privacy, disabling or restricting features that make external calls.
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Lockdown is now rolling out to Free, Plus, Pro, Go and self-service Business ChatGPT accounts.
With the introduction of LLMs, the world of cyber security has been almost completely changed. We’ve seen both hackers and security professionals use new technology to develop bigger and better programs to fight each other, and the battle still rages today. However, the rise of AI has also created a new world of attacks where hackers hijack LLMs to do their bidding. OpenAI’s Lockdown Mode was a response to these attacks, but it wasn’t available to everyone; at least until today. Now the company allows everyone, even Free users, to stay safe while using ChatGPT.
Lockdown mode of ChatGPT is coming for all users
If you’re concerned about privacy, that’s fine
Back in February OpenAI has published a blog post It details what the lock mode is. Basically, when someone sends an AI to perform a task on the web, the bad guys can sometimes “lace” their web pages and content with instructions. These try to “hijack” the AI and send personal information to the attacker without the user’s knowledge.
To solve this, Lockdown mode was introduced. When enabled, it prevents ChatGPT from making live outgoing network requests. So, if a bad actor tries to trick LLM and hand over your private information, Lockdown mode will kick in and stop ChatGPT from sending anything. It also disables or restricts specific features that depend on outgoing requests, but it’s fine if you care about privacy.
When Lockdown mode was first released, it was only available to select users. The blog post has now been updated to read:
Lockout applies to personal ChatGPT accounts as well as self-service ChatGPT Business accounts. Originally introduced for ChatGPT enterprise plans, Lockdown Mode is an additional setting for people and teams who want a more conservative ChatGPT experience when working with sensitive data or related features.
The Lockdown mode documentation It clearly confirms that “Free, Go, Plus and Pro and self-service ChatGPT Business accounts” can now use it. It may take some time to fully activate, but you can check if you have it by going to ChatGPT’s Settings and then Security. You should see Lock Mode under Advanced Security with a link.
