{
  "actor": "Five state-affiliated actors: Forest Blizzard, Emerald Sleet, Crimson Sandstorm, Charcoal Typhoon, Salmon Typhoon",
  "actor_type": "nation-state",
  "added": {
    "by": "MLSecOpsHub",
    "date": "2026-08-12"
  },
  "ai_role": "incidental",
  "autonomy_level": "tool-assisted",
  "autonomy_pct": null,
  "category": "infrastructure-abuse-supply-chain",
  "confidence": "primary",
  "date_disclosed": "2024-02-14",
  "geo": {
    "points": [
      {
        "attributed_by": "Microsoft Threat Intelligence",
        "basis": "sponsor-attribution",
        "country": "RU",
        "illustrative": true,
        "label": "Russia (state sponsor of Forest Blizzard, per Microsoft)",
        "lat": 61.52,
        "lng": 105.32,
        "role": "origin"
      },
      {
        "attributed_by": "Microsoft Threat Intelligence",
        "basis": "sponsor-attribution",
        "country": "KP",
        "illustrative": true,
        "label": "North Korea (state sponsor of Emerald Sleet, per Microsoft)",
        "lat": 40.34,
        "lng": 127.51,
        "role": "origin"
      },
      {
        "attributed_by": "Microsoft Threat Intelligence",
        "basis": "sponsor-attribution",
        "country": "IR",
        "illustrative": true,
        "label": "Iran (state sponsor of Crimson Sandstorm, per Microsoft)",
        "lat": 32.43,
        "lng": 53.69,
        "role": "origin"
      },
      {
        "attributed_by": "Microsoft Threat Intelligence",
        "basis": "sponsor-attribution",
        "country": "CN",
        "illustrative": true,
        "label": "China (state sponsor of Charcoal Typhoon and Salmon Typhoon, per Microsoft)",
        "lat": 35.86,
        "lng": 104.19,
        "role": "origin"
      }
    ]
  },
  "guardrail_bypass": [
    "legitimate-tool-abuse"
  ],
  "id": "microsoft-openai-state-actor-llm",
  "impact": "No novel or unique AI-enabled attack techniques were observed; Microsoft and OpenAI characterised the activity as consistent with using AI as a productivity tool. Identified accounts were terminated.",
  "last_updated": "2026-09-11",
  "lifecycle_phases": [
    "recon",
    "resource-dev",
    "deception-social-eng"
  ],
  "mappings": {
    "aiid": [],
    "cve": [],
    "mitre_atlas": [
      "AML.T0016.002"
    ],
    "mitre_attack": [],
    "owasp_asi": []
  },
  "mitigations": [
    "The provider terminated the accounts associated with the identified actors."
  ],
  "model_families": [
    "openai-gpt"
  ],
  "models": [
    "GPT-4"
  ],
  "name": "Microsoft/OpenAI disruption of state-affiliated actors misusing LLMs (2024)",
  "related": [],
  "severity": "medium",
  "sources": [
    {
      "archive_url": "https://web.archive.org/web/20260714223950/https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/security/blog/2024/02/14/staying-ahead-of-threat-actors-in-the-age-of-ai/",
      "date": "2024-02-14",
      "publisher": "Microsoft Threat Intelligence",
      "title": "Staying ahead of threat actors in the age of AI",
      "type": "first-party-disclosure",
      "url": "https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/security/blog/2024/02/14/staying-ahead-of-threat-actors-in-the-age-of-ai/"
    },
    {
      "archive_url": "https://web.archive.org/web/20260813050018/https://www.cybersecuritydive.com/news/openai-microsoft-state-actors-ai/707661/",
      "date": "2024-02-15",
      "publisher": "Cybersecurity Dive",
      "title": "OpenAI, Microsoft warn of state-linked actors' AI use",
      "type": "news",
      "url": "https://www.cybersecuritydive.com/news/openai-microsoft-state-actors-ai/707661/"
    },
    {
      "archive_url": "https://web.archive.org/web/20260813084511/https://www.scworld.com/news/microsoft-openai-reveal-chatgpt-use-by-state-sponsored-hackers",
      "date": "2024-02-14",
      "publisher": "SC Media",
      "title": "Microsoft, OpenAI reveal ChatGPT use by state-sponsored hackers",
      "type": "news",
      "url": "https://www.scworld.com/news/microsoft-openai-reveal-chatgpt-use-by-state-sponsored-hackers"
    }
  ],
  "status": "confirmed",
  "summary": "On 2024-02-14 Microsoft Threat Intelligence and OpenAI jointly disclosed that they had detected and disrupted five state-affiliated threat actors using OpenAI's large language models to support cyber operations: Forest Blizzard (Russia), Emerald Sleet (North Korea), Crimson Sandstorm (Iran) and the China-affiliated Charcoal Typhoon and Salmon Typhoon. Reported uses included reconnaissance, scripting help, vulnerability research and social-engineering content. Both companies stated the activity amounted to productivity support rather than novel AI-enabled attack techniques, and OpenAI terminated the associated accounts.",
  "targets": {
    "countries": [],
    "orgs_affected": null,
    "records_exfiltrated": null,
    "sectors": []
  }
}