Using AI to generate art, writings, and even videos has exploded across the internet in the last few years. Most of the websites are harmless, but a new threat comes from AI-generated video websites that include malicious software in the files downloaded from the site.
For over a year, criminals having been creating dangerous websites mimicking legitimate tools such as Canva AI, Luma AI, and Kling AI.
Criminals are using advertisements and posts on Facebook, TikTok, and LinkedIn to lure people to their fake websites. On these fake websites, unsuspecting users upload images they want to turn to video.
It seems completely plausible that since videos are large files, the website would compress (“zip”) the file to make it smaller for downloading the video. Instead of downloading a video, however, the user downloads malicious software (called malware).
How to reduce the risk:
- If you aren’t sure it’s a legitimate website, go to this website checker (https://www.bitdefender.com/en-us/consumer/link-checker), paste the website link into the text field, and click “Check URL”. It will tell you the risk level of the website.
- Always run virus scanning software on your computer.
- Be extra vigilant when downloading files, especially ZIP and EXE files.
If you are unsure of a website, please send the link to me and I’ll try to see if it’s legitimate.