The Danger of Deepfakes: A New Form of Security Threat

No, that’s not Putin.

As artificial intelligence advances, so too does the sophistication of new security threats. Particularly, the emergence of deepfakes has created an entirely new form of fraud that many are unaware of. Luckily, there are ways to combat this threat.

The best way to protect yourself from deepfake fraud is to educate yourself on what it looks like. To this end, we’ve created the below guide detailing what a deepfake is, how it’s being used for fraud, and what steps you can take to secure your business.

Deepfakes Defined

A deepfake is a video, image, or audio recording created by an AI that produces a fraudulent representation of someone.

Deepfakes can create impersonations of people’s appearance, their mannerisms, and their voice to the extent that it’s indistinguishable from reality. 

For example, you might see a video of a celebrity cursing out a fan, only to find out that they never actually did so.

In years prior to now, if you were to see such a video, you wouldn’t question it.  With the appearance of deepfakes, however, seeing is no longer believing.

No, that’s not Tom Cruise either.

Dangers of Deepfakes

While many people disregard the possible dangers of deepfakes, such technology is cause for concern. As deepfakes become more sophisticated and easier to create, they become a potent tool for scammers.

Scams that phish for information through impersonation over email are nothing new. Deepfakes, however, take this kind of scam to the next level.

For example, in 2019, someone created a CEO audio deepfake in order to call and request $243,000 from another executive. As deepfake technology improves, this kind of scam is only going to become more and more prevalent. 

How to Defend Yourself

While deepfake technology is still in its infancy, it remains a danger to businesses worldwide. So long as you stay alert and look for warning signs, however, you should be able to avoid business fraud.

Intercepting Audio Deepfakes

When you receive a suspicious phone call from a trusted executive, be on the lookout for red flags in their speech.

You may just realize that you’re being called by an imposter. Some things to look out for include:

• Unnatural speech rhythm
• Low quality or hazy audio
• Robotic voice tones

If you hear even just one of the above red flags, you will want to second-guess sharing any confidential information or following any requests made.

If you’re suspicious of the other person, consider having them verify their identity from a different channel of communication.

Spotting Video Deepfakes

Video deepfakes have the potential to be more convincing than audio deepfakes.  Keeping this in mind, you’ll want to consider the following red flags:

• Unnatural movement or blinking
• Out of sync lip movements
• Strange shifts in skin tone or lighting

Video deepfakes are dangerous because the technology is recent enough that it can catch people off-guard. So long as you’re looking for these warning signs, however, you can weed out potential scams.

Deepfake technology becomes better and better every day.  This means that deepfake fraud is going to become more threatening as time goes on. To keep yourself secure, remain vigilant, and look out for the various red flags detailed above.

To learn more information on the dangers of deepfakes, take a look at the infographic below.