New Copilot ‘reprompt’ vulnerability could let threat actors steal your data – January 2026

Author/Source: Stephanie C.S. O’Donnell See the full link here

Takeaway

This article talks about a security flaw found in Microsoft Copilot, an AI assistant. This problem could allow bad people to trick the AI into sharing private information from your computer. Microsoft is working on fixing this issue.

Technical Subject Understandability

Intermediate

Analogy/Comparison

Imagine you have a helpful smart speaker, and someone figures out a way to ask it a trick question that makes it accidentally tell them your home address or bank account number, even though it’s supposed to keep that private.

Why It Matters

This issue matters because it puts people’s private information at risk when they use AI tools. For example, if you ask Copilot about your financial data, a hacker could use this flaw to steal that information from your computer without you knowing.

Related Terms

Copilot, vulnerability, prompt injection, data exfiltration, threat actors, reprompt. Jargon Conversion: Copilot is an artificial intelligence program that helps people with tasks. A vulnerability is a weakness in a computer system that bad people can use. Prompt injection is a way to trick an AI by giving it special instructions it shouldn’t follow. Data exfiltration is when secret or private information is stolen from a computer system. Threat actors are people or groups who try to harm computer systems or steal data. Reprompt is when a user changes or adds to an instruction for an AI, sometimes to trick it.

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