OpenAI Revokes Access to Cybersecurity Program Due to Technical Issue

Multiple security researchers reported on Wednesday that OpenAI has revoked their access to the Trusted Access for Cyber (TAC) program, which allows vetted researchers to use advanced AI tools with fewer restrictions for cybersecurity research. OpenAI later acknowledged that this was the result of a technical error.

Those affected shared their experiences on OpenAI’s official support forums and on X, stating that they encountered messages indicating their identity could not be verified or that their account “is ineligible at this time” when attempting to access the ChatGPT Cyber page.

Understanding TAC and Its Purpose

The TAC program offers selected researchers access to OpenAI’s most advanced models, akin to similar offerings from Anthropic known as the Cyber Verification Program (CVP). Both programs are designed to assist trusted cybersecurity professionals in reporting vulnerabilities and bugs efficiently, thereby speeding up the patching process while safeguarding these models from misuse by cybercriminals.

Access to TAC requires cybersecurity researchers to submit identification and undergo a vetting process by OpenAI. As of now, it remains unclear how extensively the access revocation affects researchers or the specific reasons behind the decision.

TechCrunch spoke with five researchers who experienced this issue. One researcher reported receiving an email from OpenAI stating their access to Daybreak Blue, the latest tier of TAC, was revoked “due to a technical issue affecting a limited number of users.” The message further asserted, “This was an issue on our end, and not the user experience we want to deliver.”

Regional Limitations and Reverification Process

All researchers interviewed by TechCrunch indicated they reside outside the U.S. and Europe, leading to speculation that the access revocations could be region-specific. In a tweet addressing the situation, OpenAI confirmed that “a limited set of users’ access to Daybreak Blue is no longer active and they will need to re-verify to maintain their access.”

Daybreak Blue, introduced on August 10, grants individual researchers access to “frontier general-purpose models, including GPT-5.6 Sol, with safeguards tailored to authorized defensive security work.” This tier is positioned as the recommended entry point for defenders, facilitating tasks such as vulnerability discovery and secure code review.

In tandem with Daybreak Blue, OpenAI also launched Daybreak Red, a higher tier that enables vetted users to engage in “authorized vulnerability research, exploit validation, and security testing.”

Both defensive and offensive security researchers have voiced concerns over the limitations imposed by both OpenAI and Anthropic, arguing these constraints hinder significant cybersecurity research efforts.