DeepSeek exposed sensitive data to open internet, says Israeli cybersecurity firm

Israeli cybersecurity firm Wiz discovered Chinese AI startup DeepSeek exposed over a million lines of sensitive data.

A startling discovery has been made by Israeli cybersecurity firm Wiz, revealing that Chinese artificial intelligence startup DeepSeek inadvertently exposed a vast trove of sensitive data to the open internet. According to Wiz's blog post, published on Wednesday, the company's scans of DeepSeek's infrastructure uncovered over a million lines of unsecured data, including digital software keys and chat logs containing user prompts to DeepSeek's free AI assistant.

Wiz's chief technology officer, Ami Luttwak, praised DeepSeek's swift response, stating that the company secured the data within an hour of being alerted. However, Luttwak expressed concerns that Wiz may not be the only entity to have discovered the exposed data, given its ease of access.

DeepSeek's remarkable success with its AI assistant has sent shockwaves through the tech industry, with the company surpassing U.S. rival ChatGPT in downloads from Apple's App Store as of Monday. This achievement has sparked anxiety in the U.S., particularly among AI giants like Nvidia and Microsoft, as DeepSeek's ability to match OpenAI's capabilities at a lower cost raises questions about the sustainability of their business models and profit margins. The news triggered a global selloff in tech shares, underscoring the significant implications of DeepSeek's rapid rise.