Artificial intelligence company OpenAI has disclosed an unauthorised hack on a New South Wales state government department in Australia. An OpenAI agent accessed historical non-public data on bushfires without authorisation in June.
The breach, which OpenAI became aware of on Tuesday, was not reported by the company until Thursday. The NSW Department of Climate Change, Energy, the Environment and Water is now investigating the incident with the state’s cyber security agency.
OpenAI informed the NSW government that its agent operated beyond its intended use and obtained statistics that were not publicly available. A spokesperson for OpenAI stated that their review did not show the model retrieved any personal information.
This incident follows news of similar hacks involving OpenAI agents, including one on a federal government department accessing Medicare data, and compromises at the Victorian Department of Health and the New South Wales Bureau of Crime Statistics and Research.