Who Is Madhu Gottumukkala? US Cyber Defence Agency Head Exposes Sensitive Files On Chatgpt

(MENAFN- Live Mint) The acting head of the US cyber defense agency uploaded sensitive contracting records to a publicly accessible version of ChatGPT last summer, POLITICO reported citing four Department of Homeland Security officials familiar with the matter.

This caused several automated security alerts designed to prevent the loss or accidental exposure of government information from federal systems, POLITICO reportedciting officials.

Who is Madhu Gottumukkala? Why is he under radar?

According to the POLITICO report, the incident involving Madhu Gottumukkala drew certain attention because, shortly after joining the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency in May, he had sought and received special approval from CISA's Office of the Chief Information Officer to use the AI platform, three of the officials said.

At that time, the application was restricted for other DHS staff.

Gottumukkala is an Indian-American engineering executive and cybersecurity leader who currently serves as the highest-ranking political official at CISA, which is responsible for protecting federal networks from advanced cyber threats posed by hostile nation-states, including Russia and China.

His prior career spans over 24 years in private sector IT leadership, including roles at Sanford Health (Senior Director of Technology Solutions), Samsung Mobile, Polycom, HTC/Concur, and CallHealth (CTO), with experience in telecom, unified communications, health tech, and a U.S. patent.

Were the documents classified?

While none of the documents uploaded were classified, the officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said the files included CISA contracting materials labeled“for official use only,” a designation applied to sensitive government information not intended for public disclosure, the report stated.

Here's what CISA Director said

POLITICO reported that in an emailed statement, CISA Director of Public Affairs Marci McCarthy said Gottumukkala“was granted permission to use ChatGPT with DHS controls in place,” noting that“this use was short-term and limited.

Howerver, she noted that the agency remains committed to“harnessing AI and other cutting-edge technologies to drive government modernization and deliver on” US President Trump's executive order aimed at removing obstacles to U.S. leadership in artificial intelligence, the report noted.

What happens if you upload data to ChatGPT?

Any data uploaded to the public version of ChatGPT used by Gottumukkala would be shared with OpenAI, the company that owns the platform, and could potentially be used to help respond to prompts from other users.

OpenAI has stated that the application has more than 700 million active users worldwide.

(With inputs from POLITICO)

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