Think twice before installing OpenAI’s new Atlas browser!

Computerworld.com reported that “The genAI browser from the company that created ChatGPT brings with it security concerns that could hinder widespread corporate adoption.”  The October 24, 2024 article entitled “Enterprises should not install OpenAI’s new Atlas browser, analysts warn” (https://www.computerworld.com/article/4078115/enterprises-should-not-install-openais-new-atlas-browser-analysts-warn.html) included these comments:

Atlas can help automate online browsing based on user preferences. The browser has ChatGPT as its landing page, where the technology can take control of the browser to run web-based tasks.

If a user is viewing a recipe and wants to make it, for example, the browser will automatically go to sites like Instacart and place an order for the ingredients. Or the agent chatbot — which sits in a side panel — can make changes to documents in Google Docs based on user requests. (Google Docs already has a prompting feature to automate document changes.)

Critics were quick to point out that Atlas is vulnerable to prompt hijacking, where malicious prompts embedded in webpages could lead to data theft.

What do you think?