Michaela
Chinese AI startup DeepSeek suffered a cyberattack on Monday, coinciding with website outages just as its AI assistant surged to the top of Apple’s U.S. App Store rankings for free apps.
DeepSeek initiated an investigation late Monday evening, Beijing time, after detecting technical issues, according to its status page. Following two hours of monitoring, the company confirmed it had fallen victim to a “large-scale malicious attack.” Although new registrations were temporarily paused, existing users were able to access their accounts as normal. The app has since resumed allowing new user sign-ups.
Monday’s outages marked the longest disruption in nearly three months, occurring amid the company’s surge in popularity, which has driven a significant increase in user traffic.
DeepSeek’s app, an AI assistant akin to OpenAI’s ChatGPT, has recently gained significant attention in the U.S., surpassing American competitors while offering a more affordable alternative.
The app’s rise sent shockwaves through the tech market, leading to a sharp decline in technology stocks on Monday. Nvidia, the leading AI chip manufacturer and the most valuable U.S. company, experienced a 13.6% drop in its stock price, resulting in a $500 billion loss in market value during early trading.
At a recent House Republican retreat, President Donald Trump described the launch of the new AI model as a “positive development,” but emphasized it should act as a “wake-up call” for American industries.
DeepSeek Data Breach
According to Reuters, Israeli cybersecurity firm Wiz uncovered a significant breach of sensitive data from a Chinese startup, which was accidentally exposed to the open internet.
In a recent blog post, Wiz revealed that its scans of DeepSeek’s infrastructure uncovered a security lapse where over one million lines of sensitive data were left unprotected.
“Within minutes, we found a publicly accessible ClickHouse database linked to DeepSeek, completely open and unauthenticated, exposing sensitive data. It was hosted at oauth2callback.deepseek.com:9000 and dev.deepseek.com:9000,” the firm wrote.
The exposed data included digital software keys and chat logs, which appeared to document user interactions with the company’s free AI assistant, raising concerns about privacy and security.
“They took it down in less than an hour,” Ami Luttwak, Wiz’s co-founder, said. “But this was so simple to find we believe we’re not the only ones who found it.”
Wiz advises that as businesses increasingly turn to AI tools and services from a growing number of startups and providers, they are also placing sensitive customer data in the hands of these companies. The fast-paced adoption of AI technologies often leads to security concerns being overlooked. However, ensuring the protection of customer data should remain a top priority as these technologies continue to expand.
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Michaela has no crypto positions and does not hold any crypto assets. This article is provided for informational purposes only and should not be construed as financial advice. The Shib Magazine and The Shib Daily are the official media and publications of the Shiba Inu cryptocurrency project. Readers are encouraged to conduct their own research and consult with a qualified financial adviser before making any investment decisions.
