OpenAI Introduces Lockdown Mode in ChatGPT to Combat Data Theft Risks
the goal is to protect you against attackers who try to steal your personal data through prompt injection. But it does limit your ability to access the web.
AIs can be vulnerable to different security threats. And one of the biggest is prompt injection. By feeding malicious commands into your prompts, an attacker could infiltrate your chats, access external files and services, and steal your personal data. An optional setting in ChatGPT called Lockdown mode tries to protect your account by limiting what you can do and where. (Disclosure: Ziff Davis, ZDNET's parent company, filed an April 2025 lawsuit against OpenAI, alleging it infringed Ziff Davis copyrights in training and operating its AI systems.) Also: How indirect prompt injection attacks on AI work – and 6 ways to shut them down To combat data theft through prompt injection, Lockdown mode limits outbound network requests, such as those to the internet or to an external file service. The idea is to stop any live sensitive information from falling into the hands of an attacker. Also: Use an AI browser? 5 ways to protect yourself from prompt injections – before it's too late The mode doesn't prevent actual prompt injection attacks. A hacker could still infect your prompts with malicious commands that tap into cached web content or uploaded files. Plus, there are some decided tradeoffs, namely those that involve live web searches or information. With Lockdown mode enabled, you can't perform any of the following tasks: With these restrictions in mind, you may still want to try Lockdown mode if you're working with highly sensitive or confidential data, either personally or professionally. Just keep in mind that you'll be limited with any requests that need access to the live web or a live file service. Lockdown mode is in the process of rolling out, so it may not yet be accessible to all accounts. To enable it on your end, make sure you're signed in to ChatGPT with your account. Click your account name in the lower left and select Settings.
