Is your ChatGPT down? Or, are you experiencing issues accessing ChatGPT? If so, you’re not alone. ChatGPT has been encountering service disruptions and numerous errors lately. The cause appears to be DDoS attacks, possibly instigated by Anonymous Sudan.
Anonymous Sudan, a now prominent group of hacktivists, has claimed responsibility for targeting ChatGPT and its parent company, OpenAI, with a series of DDoS attacks.
Anonymous Sudan also referenced alleged tweets attributed to Tal Broda, Head of Research Platform at OpenAI. The screenshots of these tweets depict Tal denying the existence of Palestine and criticizing calls for a ceasefire in Gaza.
According to Anonymous Sudan, they plan to continue their DDoS attacks until OpenAI implements behavioural changes to ChatGPT to prevent the propagation of what they deem as “dehumanizing views of Palestinians.” Additionally, they demand the removal of Tal Broda from his position at OpenAI.
On the contrary, ChatGPT’s Status Page confirms service disruptions, including login issues. It also notes an “Elevated error rate impacting ChatGPT,” indicating a higher-than-usual number of errors occurring within the system or process. Such errors could arise from various factors, including faulty hardware, software bugs, network issues, DDoS attacks, or even human error.
Nevertheless, OpenAI is actively monitoring the situation and working to resolve the issue. However, as of now, there has been no official confirmation or acknowledgement from OpenAI regarding the company experiencing cyber attacks or the specific reasons behind the ChatGPT errors that users have been reporting since this afternoon.
Anonymous Sudan vs ChatGPT and OpenAI
This isn’t the first instance where Anonymous Sudan has claimed responsibility for DDoSing ChatGPT. Last November, the group made similar claims, and OpenAI acknowledged that its infrastructure was indeed targeted by DDoS attacks.
Expert Commentary
For expert commentary, we reached out to Oded Vanunu, Head of Product Vulnerability Research at Check Point Software. Vanunu linked Anonymous Sudan’s DDoS attacks to a strategy aimed at garnering media attention.
“Russian-affiliated groups Anonymous Sudan and SkyNet have claimed responsibility for the latest outages on the OpenAI website and ChatGPT service. This is according to an ‘official spokesperson’ for Anonymous Sudan going by the name of Crush on Telegram,” said Oded.
“Hacktivists often look for high-profile targets to disrupt in order to bring attention to themselves and in this case, Crush claims the groups attacked OpenAI due to the company’s perceived support of Israel.”
Anonymous Sudan’s Recent Activities
Anonymous Sudan has been notably active in recent times. According to a recent report by Hackread.com, the group has conducted DDoS attacks on various targets, including the Israeli BAZAN Group and the United Arab Emirates-based FlyDubai Airline.
Furthermore, the group targeted Thuraya Mobile Satellite Communications Company, an international mobile-satellite service (MSS) provider headquartered in Dubai, United Arab Emirates (UAE). In both attacks on UAE-based infrastructure, Anonymous Sudan claimed that the UAE’s support for the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) was evident through communication channels.
It’s worth noting that the RSF is a paramilitary force previously operated by the Government of Sudan and has been accused by hacktivists of committing war crimes against the Sudanese people.
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