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Researchers successfully tested this Morris II worm and published its findings using two methods.
A group of researchers created a first-generation AI worm that can steal data, spread malware, and spam others via an email client to spread through multiple systems. This worm was developed and successfully functions as designed in test environments using popular LLMs. Based on their findings, the researchers advised GenAI developers, sharing a concern about the potential dangers such malicious programming can have. The team shared research papers and published a video showing how two methods are used to steal data and affect other email clients.
Ben Nassi created this worm from Cornell Tech, Stav Cohen from the Israel Institute of Technology, and Ron Bitton from Intuit. They named it 'Morris II' after the original Morris, the first computer worm that created a worldwide nuisance online in 1988. This worm works by targeting Gen AI apps and even with Gen AI-enabled email assistants that generate text and images against AI models like Gemini Pro, ChatGPT 4.0, and LLaVA.
This works by using an adversarial self-replicating prompt that is used against its models, similar to how jailbreak functions to spread toxic content by using AI. The researchers demonstrated this by creating an email system with these generative AI engines and using a self-replicating prompt using text or embedded in an image file.
AI worm infects users via AI-enabled email clients — Morris II generative AI worm steals confidential data as it spreads
Researchers successfully tested this Morris II worm and published its findings using two methods.
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