The widespread use of AI services has made accounts like ChatGPT, Claude, and Perplexity part of users' everyday information and activities. This has made these accounts an attractive target for cyber attackers; especially when users rely on them for sensitive tasks, programming, work documents, or searching for personal information.
An AI account being hacked is not necessarily accompanied by a visible alert or an unmistakable sign.
One of the earliest signs can be the presence of an active session or an unknown device on the user's account. Regularly checking login sessions can help identify accesses that were not performed by the user themself.
How to check the security of a ChatGPT account?
In ChatGPT, the user can enter the settings section via the web version of the service and view the list of their account's active sessions via Settings > Security and Login > Active Sessions.
In this section, devices connected to the account are displayed. If an unknown device or session is observed, it is possible to log out from that device.
Also the Log out all option can be used to sign out of all active sessions.
If you suspect someone else has accessed the account, changing the password is also an important step.
In ChatGPT to change the password you can use the Forgot password option in the login process; after that, a code is sent to the user to allow setting a new password.
How to check the status of a Claude account?
In Claude, checking active sessions is done through Settings > Account. In this section, the user can see the devices currently connected to the account.
If one of the sessions is unfamiliar to the user, you can choose the logout or Terminate option from that session's menu. There is also the option to Log out of all devices to end all active sessions.
An important difference of Claude compared to many other services is that the platform does not use a traditional password system. Instead, a login link is sent to the user's email address; therefore if suspicious activity is observed, securing the email account becomes particularly important.
Perplexity has an important limitation
In Perplexity, unlike ChatGPT and Claude, the user cannot see the list of devices that have logged into their account. For this reason, if you suspect someone else has accessed the account, you must use the option to sign out of all sessions.
To do this, sign into Perplexity, go to All settings from the account menu and select the Sign out of all sessions option. After that, you can sign back in using your email address and the six-digit code.
Multi-factor authentication remains one of the most important security layers
Regardless of which AI service you use, using a unique password and enabling multi-factor authentication (MFA) on services that offer it can reduce the likelihood of unauthorized access.
Among the three services examined, ChatGPT and Perplexity support multi-factor authentication, while Claude, due to using a login link sent to email, does not have a traditional password system.
Users should also avoid reusing the same password across multiple services.
Using a password manager to generate and store unique passwords is one recommended method to reduce the risk from credential exposure on other services.
Why has AI account security become more important?
AI accounts are no longer merely tools for asking a few general questions. Many users enter work information, programming code, files, documents, business ideas, and even personal information into these services. Therefore unauthorized access to such an account can be more than the misuse of a typical user account.
For this reason, observing an unknown session or unusual behavior on an account should not be ignored.
Signing out of active sessions, changing login information if necessary, and enabling available security features are among the first actions a user can take to limit an attacker's access.
Ultimately, AI account security has become as important as other major online accounts. As users' dependence on these services increases, periodically checking active sessions and using additional security layers can prevent a simple intrusion from turning into a more serious problem.