Everyone has received a telemarketing call from a computer-generated voice. In the past, they weren’t hard to identify. But now, particularly with election season approaching and people motivated to push the boundaries of technology, AI has enabled people to create authentic sounding and looking video from thin air. They even respond to your questions. In fact, AI can create these digital people modelled after real, 3D people. These digital imitations can do an excellent job mimicking mannerisms, speech patterns, and even knowledge in real-time, using data readily available on the Internet.
This takes phishing scams to a whole new level.
Imagine what would happen if you or one of your colleagues received not just an email imitating someone from your organization, but a phone call or even a video call. Do your people know this is a possibility? Education and building awareness is key to beating these scams.
Sadly this is not a theoretical danger. It already happened. One large company was targeted and tricked into sending $25 Million to a criminal. Granted, that was an exceptionally sophisticated attack, but the technology is becoming more accessible to criminals. Thanks to automation and cheaper, ever-increasing computing power available to everyone, criminals can attack many smaller organizations with relatively small investments of additional time and resources.
If you are in a phone call or video call with someone you suspect is a deepfake, stop and think. Are they asking you to bypass normal procedures? Are they demanding urgency to avoid a negative consequence? Is this call happening at a typical time of day? It’s getting harder and harder to detect deepfakes, so it’s worth hanging up the call, reaching out directly to your contact, and maybe even talking with them in-person.
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