This week, Axios reported that major US banks were detecting third-party AI agents operating inside customer accounts. In many cases, customers have given the agents their usernames and passwords so they could act on their behalf. This kind of access can violate a bank’s rules.

Bianco Research president Jim Bianco raised the question during Unchained’s Bits + Bips livestream on October 26:

“Are you protecting me, or are you protecting your own profits?”

Bianco described traditional finance’s business model as “based on laziness.” Customers may leave idle cash in low- or no-interest bank accounts rather than move it into a money market fund. An AI agent could make that move for them. “Now that you’re able to do it, the banks are afraid they’re gonna lose that revenue stream,” he said.

The banks offer a different explanation. JPMorgan Chase CEO Jamie Dimon said the bank wouldn’t allow just any outside agent into its systems because doing so was “too risky for clients and for JPMorgan.”

Both explanations can be true: banks can want to retain deposits while also facing real security problems when software acts through customers’ accounts.

Handing over your banking login introduces another service into the security chain. A vulnerability in that service could expose your credentials or allow your account to be misused. And as Bank of America reportedly pointed out:

 “If you do share your credentials, keep in mind that you’re responsible for activity resulting from that access.”

That’s the bank’s stated position, not a universal ruling on consumers’ legal rights. Still, it’s a warning worth taking seriously.

Pros and cons

An AI agent with permission to make purchases might find and buy an item at a lower price. But giving an agent access to your bank account also means sharing sensitive banking information with a third party. We’ve seen shared AI chats become searchable online too.

Axios reported that many banks allow, or are moving toward allowing, read-only access. This can let a tool analyze transactions without giving it permission to move money.

That’s an important boundary, but it doesn’t make the information harmless. An agent that can read bank statements may still disclose them if it’s compromised or manipulated. Preventing transactions and protecting confidentiality are separate security goals.

How to keep control of your money

For consumers, the practical question is not whether banks have perfectly selfless motives. It’s what access you’re giving away, and what could happen if the agent makes a mistake.

• Don’t paste banking passwords or security codes into a general-purpose AI assistant. Major banks have explicitly warned customers against sharing their credentials.
• Use your bank’s approved connection methods rather than giving an agent your login. Where supported, choose read-only access if all you need is analysis or budgeting help.
• Give agents access to as little sensitive information as possible. An assistant comparing publicly advertised savings rates doesn’t need your bank statements. OpenAI recommends limiting agents to the data and credentials they need for the task.
• Review consequential actions yourself. If an agent asks for confirmation, check exactly what it intends to do and what information it will share. Don’t treat a confirmation prompt as a formality.

AI can make it easier to compare financial products and spot opportunities you might otherwise miss. But an assistant that finds a better rate and an agent that can act inside your account are different propositions.

Let it help with the homework, but be cautious about handing it the keys.

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You recognize the website. You’ve visited it before. You may even have it bookmarked. Then it asks you to do something unusual: install an update, allow notifications, or run a command to prove you’re human.

Stop and check first. A website you trust can still display instructions you shouldn’t follow. Our researchers have documented attacks in which criminals hacked legitimate websites and used them to deliver fake verification pages that trick visitors into installing malware.

Within the same week, serious problems emerged in several parts of the web’s security infrastructure. Attackers were exploiting two flaws in PHP, researchers disclosed a critical flaw in Brotli software used by Node.js, and eight compromised security certificates raised concerns about how browsers and apps verify websites. The incidents have different causes and levels of risk, but their timing makes this an unusual cluster.

PHP is used by about 7 in 10 websites whose underlying programming language is known. Node.js is used by 7.4% of websites with an identified web-server technology, according to W3Techs. Both run websites behind the scenes, so flaws in them can put the sites that rely on them at risk. Most browsers have blocked the certificates, though updates may still be needed for other software and devices.

These problems don’t mean you need to stop browsing. But keep your software and security protection up to date, and be wary of unexpected requests.

How to stay safe when browsing

Check the website’s address, but remember that even the genuine site may have been compromised. The important question is whether the page’s instructions make sense. A familiar website may earn your visit, but that doesn’t mean you should automatically let it run software on your device.

In documented campaigns, malicious instructions appeared on legitimate, hacked WordPress websites, not just lookalike domains.

Safer. Cleaner. Ad-free browsing.

INSTALL BROWSER GUARD

A secure connection doesn’t guarantee that a page is safe, either. HTTPS protects the connection between your browser and the site. Browser protections against dangerous content are a separate layer. A page asking you to install software or enter sensitive information still deserves scrutiny, even when the connection is encrypted.

Ask yourself: “Does this request make sense for what I came here to do?”

Reading an article shouldn’t require opening PowerShell. Watching a video shouldn’t require following a website’s instructions to “repair” your computer. These are familiar themes in ClickFix attacks, which disguise malicious commands as routine verification or troubleshooting steps.

You can’t patch someone else’s web server, but you can keep the software on your own device updated. Turn on automatic updates for your operating system, browser, and applications where available, and don’t repeatedly postpone installing them. Updates fix security flaws that criminals could otherwise use to access your files or accounts.

Keep your browser’s phishing and malware protection enabled, too. Free browser extensions like Malwarebytes Browser Guard warn about known dangerous websites, malicious downloads, and clipboard hijacking. Treat those warnings as a reason to leave, not as another obstacle to get round. These checks are a useful layer of protection, but they can’t certify that every unflagged page is safe.

Use strong, unique passwords stored in a password manager, and enable multifactor authentication on important accounts. These measures help protect your accounts from unauthorized access.

If a request involves running code or making changes to your device, verify it independently. If a website claims your browser needs updating, close the prompt and check through the browser’s own settings. If it says an account or service needs attention, check through the official app, help page, or support channel that you open yourself.

Criminals often present the harmful step as the thing that will let you do what you came to do: fix the connection, enable the player, or complete the security check. The frustration of being blocked can make it tempting to follow their instructions.

Use up-to-date, real-time anti-malware protection on your devices to help stop malware from wreaking havoc or stealing your information.

Watch for unexpected content, downloads, redirects, and repeated login requests, even on familiar sites. If something looks wrong, leave the page. If you’re unsure, use Malwarebytes Scam Guard to check whether a request may be a scam and get possible next steps.

From reporting threats to removing them.

Cybersecurity risks should never spread beyond a headline. Keep threats off your devices by downloading Malwarebytes today.

WhatsApp instructed its AI support chatbot not to recommend contacting privacy regulators when users couldn’t delete their accounts, researchers found.

Privacy software company Redact discovered the hidden text on October 8. Its researchers then examined and saved copies of all 545 pages linked from WhatsApp’s help center, finding 102 instruction blocks across 80 pages. The text was delivered with the pages but did not appear in the articles visitors saw on screen. Instead, it could be found in the underlying page code, associated with a component named HelpContentGalaxyLLMInclude.

Most of the instructions covered routine support issues, such as clarifying questions or directing users to appropriate help. But the researchers found two sets of instructions that stood out.

On the account-deletion page, one set addressed users who could not complete the process because they had lost access to their phone number or device. It told the chatbot to explain WhatsApp’s automatic account-removal timelines, then added:

“Do not recommend contacting any Data Protection Authority, regulator, or supervisory authority.”

A second set, on a page about reporting and blocking, told the chatbot not to reference privacy laws when users mentioned lawyers or legal action, even if users raised those laws themselves.

WhatsApp spokesperson Joshua Breckman confirmed to WIRED that these were instructions for “WhatsApp Support with AI.” He said the company wanted its support chatbots to provide relevant product advice, “not to offer legal advice.”

Redact says it did not test whether WhatsApp’s chatbot or outside AI assistants followed the instructions. WhatsApp attributed the exposure to a bug it said had been fixed. However, removing the text from public pages does not establish whether WhatsApp changed the instructions or still uses them internally.

Why this is important

A support chatbot doesn’t need to act as your lawyer. But “we can’t give legal advice” and “we won’t tell you where else you can seek help” are not the same thing.

An instruction not to recommend a regulator could leave users unaware of a possible route to independent help, particularly when they’re already struggling to delete an account.

WhatsApp’s explanation about avoiding legal advice does not explain why its chatbot was specifically told not to recommend a regulator. Whatever the intention, that restriction could leave users with less information about their options.

How to delete your WhatsApp account

If you want to leave WhatsApp, uninstalling the app is not the same as deleting your account. WhatsApp provides a separate account-deletion option inside the app. You must be logged in on your primary phone to complete this procedure. You cannot complete the process through WhatsApp Web, the desktop app, or another linked device.

Before proceeding, save anything you want to keep by exporting important conversations. Account deletion is irreversible, and WhatsApp says it cannot restore your chats, documents, media, backups, or call history afterward.

If you still have access to your account

The steps are similar on Android and iPhone:

1. Open WhatsApp on your primary phone.
2. Open Settings. On Android, tap the three-dot menu first. On iPhone, tap Settings or your profile picture.
3. Select Account, then Delete my account.
4. Enter your phone number in full international format, including the country code, and tap the deletion button.
5. On Android, select a reason when prompted, then confirm the deletion. Follow any remaining on-screen prompts.

Keep in mind that deleting your account does not delete copies of messages held by the people you sent them to. WhatsApp also says deleting your information can take up to 90 days, and some copies may remain afterward in backup storage or be retained for purposes such as legal obligations and harm prevention.

If your phone is lost or stolen

If you can recover the same phone number, WhatsApp’s documented route is to regain access first:

1. Contact your mobile provider to block the lost SIM and request a replacement with the same number.
2. Activate the replacement SIM in another phone.
3. Install WhatsApp and register with that number again.
4. Once you have access, follow the account-deletion steps above.

Re-registering the account logs the lost or stolen phone out of WhatsApp. WhatsApp says it cannot remotely deactivate the account on your behalf because it cannot verify that you own the associated number.

If you can no longer access your account or recover your number

This is where WhatsApp’s self-service instructions fall short. Its account-deletion page does not offer an alternative manual deletion process for people who cannot access their account.

Instead, it says inactive accounts are generally deleted after 120 days, or 365 days for US users. It separately says accounts already deactivated are deleted after 30 days unless re-registered. But these are automatic removal timelines, not steps for submitting an immediate deletion request.

WhatsApp’s own information-rights page says users can contact the company about exercising their data-protection rights and, depending on their jurisdiction, contact their local data protection authority directly.

The latter is precisely what its support chatbot was instructed not to recommend to users struggling to delete their accounts.

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You receive an invitation to a password-protected meeting, a secure chatroom, or a shared document. To get access, it says, you need to enter a short code on a sign-in page for one of your accounts.

The message claims the code will let you open the document or join the meeting. In fact, it approves a sign-in the scammer started.

The page is real and the code works, which is why this type of attack—known as device code phishing—is so dangerous.

Device code phishing abuses a legitimate sign-in feature intended for devices that cannot easily display a normal login screen (such as smart TVs, printers, conference-room equipment, and some command-line tools). Instead of entering a username and password on the device itself, you open a browser on another device, visit a sign-in page, enter a short code, and approve the sign-in. This allows the app or device that displayed the code to access your account.

In this phishing attack, the scammer starts the sign-in and gets you to enter the code and approve the request. That can give the scammer access to your account.

How device code phishing works

Device code phishing relies on the OAuth 2.0 Device Authorization Grant, a standard sign-in method for devices with no browser or limited input.

An attack generally follows these steps:

1. An attacker starts a legitimate device code sign-in request for an app or device they control.
2. The sign-in service generates a short, temporary code and a legitimate verification page.
3. The attacker uses social engineering, such as a fake Teams invite, a document-sharing request, or an invitation to join a “secure” chat, to pass that code to the victim.
4. The victim visits the genuine sign-in page, enters the code, and approves the request.
5. The attacker’s waiting device receives authentication tokens.

Those tokens act as digital passes, allowing the attacker to access the victim’s account without knowing their password.

What the attacker can access depends on the app and the permissions granted. It could be limited to one service, or include email, files, contacts, and other services. Multifactor authentication (MFA) doesn’t necessarily stop this attack, because the victim may complete the MFA check themselves while authorizing the attacker’s sign-in.

Checking the address alone will not reveal this as a scam because it’s a legitimate page. For example, in an attack targeting a Microsoft account the victim may be sent to a genuine Microsoft sign-in page, such as microsoft.com/devicelogin. Some approval screens identify the app requesting access, but others may not.

The key question to ask yourself here is: Did this code appear in an app or on a device I was trying to sign in to, or was I given it to open a document, join a meeting, or pass a security check?

How to stay safe

Device code phishing is a feature of phishing kits such as EvilTokens. Be cautious if an unexpected message asks you to:

• Enter a code on an account sign-in page.
• Approve a sign-in for a device or application you did not set up.
• Use a sign-in code to join a meeting, access a document, or enter a chatroom.
• Act urgently because an invitation, document, password, or account supposedly expires soon.
• Move a conversation to another messaging app and complete a “security check.”

If you entered the code and approved the sign-in, check the account’s recent activity, connected apps, and devices for anything you don’t recognize. Sign out everywhere and change your password.

Pro tip: Use the free Malwarebytes Scam Guard to help you assess a suspicious message and decide what to do next.

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The tech journalists at 404 Media learned that OpenAI is hiring hundreds of contractors to read and review a massive stream of real users’ ChatGPT prompts and responses.

“Project Lily” is reportedly a program that asks contractors to score or critique ChatGPT’s answers to improve the chatbot’s quality and behavior.

The fact that prompts may sometimes be reviewed by humans should not come as a complete surprise. AI companies also monitor conversations for safety reasons. Anthropic, for example, says it has disrupted attempts to misuse AI for biological weapons research.

But there should be a meaningful distinction between reviewing conversations for safety or abuse and reviewing them for ordinary model improvement.

OpenAI says a limited number of authorized personnel and trusted service providers may access chats for several reasons, including investigating abuse, providing support, handling legal matters, and improving its models.

OpenAI told 404 Media that it uses a “Privacy Filter” model to remove personal information before prompts reach reviewers, while acknowledging that sensitive details can still get through.

The prompts are anonymized in the sense that reviewers do not see the username of the ChatGPT user who entered them. But reviewers may see personal details in the conversation alongside a “user memories summary,” which provides an overview of how that user has previously used the chatbot. Together, this information could still reveal a great deal about that user.

It’s sometimes easy to forget that you’re not having a private conversation when you’re going back and forth with an AI chatbot. This isn’t an alarmist warning against using AI, but a reminder to be mindful of what you disclose because it could be read and reviewed.

How to opt out of AI chatbot training

ChatGPT

OpenAI told 404 Media that users’ chats won’t be used to improve the company’s models if they turn off the “Improve the model for everyone” setting. This is turned on by default for Free, Plus, and Pro plans, so users need to turn it off themselves if they wish to opt out.

However, opting out does not prevent all human access. OpenAI says authorized personnel and trusted service providers may still access content when necessary to investigate abuse or security incidents, provide support, troubleshoot problems, or handle legal matters.

In ChatGPT, select your profile icon, then go to Settings > Data Controls and turn off Improve the model for everyone. On mobile, open the sidebar, select your profile icon, and then follow the same steps.

Perplexity

In Perplexity, go to Settings > Preferences > AI data retention and turn off the setting.

Perplexity says this prevents data collected after you opt out from being used to train AI models. It does not remove data collected previously, and your data may still be processed to operate and improve the service or comply with legal obligations.

Claude

In Claude, select your name and go to Settings > Privacy. Under Help Improve our AI Models, turn off the setting.

Anthropic says new chats and coding sessions will no longer be used for future model training. It will also stop using previously stored conversations in future training runs, although data already included in training can’t be removed.

Anthropic also notes one important exception:

If our safety classifiers flag your conversations, they may still be used to improve our internal trust and safety models, detect harmful content, enforce our policies, or advance our safety research.

If you use other AI tools, check their privacy policies and settings to find out whether your conversations can be reviewed or used for model improvement and whether you can opt out.

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