Since it launched, Microsoft’s Bing Chat has been generating headlines left, right, and center — and not all of them have been positive. Now, there’s a new headache for the artificial intelligence (AI) chatbot, as it’s been found it has a tendency to send you to malware websites that can infect your PC.
The discovery was made by antivirus firm Malwarebytes, which discussed the incident in a blog post. According to the company, Bing Chat is displaying malware advertisements that send users to malicious websites instead of filtering them out.
When using Bing Chat, you can ask the chatbot to find information, websites, apps, and other things for you. Sometimes, it will provide a link in the chat. Almost from Bing Chat’s first release, Microsoft has been inserting adverts into these links, much like how a Google search places ads above initial results.
The problem, though, is that it is very easy for bad actors to buy an advert in order to promote a website that masquerades as a legitimate destination. If you’re not careful, you can end up falling victim to this bait and switch.
Here’s how it works. In the blog post, Malwarebytes detailed how you could ask Bing Chat to download a popular IP scanning app that is used by system admins. Bing Chat provided a link to the app’s official website, but hovering over the link actually showed two results: the real website, with a malicious advert placed right above it.
If you didn’t look too closely — or weren’t familiar with the app’s official website address — you might not realize that the first result would take you to a deceptive website.
On further analysis, Malwarebytes found that the fake website redirected visitors to a second site that possessed a very similar web address to the real app’s official URL. It then prompted users to download malware that could damage their computers.
The incident suggests that Microsoft could be doing a lot more to protect its users from malicious adverts that are served up through Bing Chat. For the time being, you should be very careful when clicking links provided by Bing Chat. It might be best to stick to a standard search engine and install an ad blocker to prevent malicious adverts from ever reaching you.
Mozilla is giving Firefox’s Smart Window two new tricks. If you haven’t tried it yet, Smart Window is an optional AI mode in Firefox with a built-in chat that helps you get things done while you browse. With this update, it can fill out online forms using details from your tabs and keep an eye on websites for you.
Tired of typing the same details into every form?
The absolutely absurd idea of putting a touchscreen display on a mouse isn't exactly new. Turtle Beach already did it with its Command Series MC7, which features a 2.25-inch control screen. But apparently, even that wasn't ridiculous enough for Arctic Fox Technologies. Its new Super Mouse looks like someone took the chunky old Atari ST mouse, slapped a touchscreen and scroll wheel on it, and called it an upgrade.
The result is a rather unusual-looking mouse that is now on Kickstarter, starting at $199. And as ridiculous as it looks, some of its features are genuinely intriguing.
Apple is less than a day away from launching its highly anticipated OLED MacBook Pro with a touch-sensitive screen. But it appears that the upgrade is going to cost a pretty penny. According to a report by Bloomberg, Apple is reportedly eyeing a starting price of $2,899 for the 14-inch MacBook Pro, while the 16-inch version could start at $3,399 in the US.
"At $2,899, the 14-inch model would mark the highest starting price for a new MacBook Pro model, surpassing the $2,799 Apple charged for a 17-inch version introduced in 2006," says the report. The report claims that Apple is targeting a minimum price hike of $400 for its upcoming redesigned 14-inch and 16-inch MacBook Pro models.