iD. The emergence of deepfakes fired the starting pistol in a cybersecurity arms race.
Deepfakes will intensify the already acute pressure placed on trust and communication in the public sphere.
Because of this focus, what risks being missed is the role deepfakes will play in corporate fraud, scams and theft.
Corporates will feel justified in delegating deepfake identification and protection to central governments and public agencies - this is where the frontlines have supposedly been drawn.
In February, an employee was duped into sending $25m of company funds to malicious actors after falling for a deepfake video scam, where fraudsters posed as the firm's CEO in a video conference.
This attack is the canary in the coalmine - hackers have expanded their arsenal and are bringing deepfakes to the cybersecurity gunfight.
It's never enough on its own, but if your employees are regularly leaving the door wide open for hackers then it doesn't matter how much you spend on new technologies.
Corporates need to invest in training and informing their employees about the threat posed by deepfakes and how to mitigate it.
These might involve simulated phishing exercises with deepfakes or interactive workshops where employees are trained to spot red flags.
As any IT professional knows, most workers outside of the industry have a chronic lack of cybersecurity basics.
Not investing in the latest defensive systems leaves corporations in the stone age, facing down hackers with AI and deepfakes at their fingertips.
Digital watermarking can be deployed to mark authentic content for employees.
More long-term technological defenses might involve AI-powered deepfake detection tools - using machine learning algorithms, trained on datasets composed of authentic images and deepfakes, to detect fraudulent content.
Senior management have plenty to do to properly insulate their firms, and this will involve increased investment in cybersecurity across the board.
Deepfake breaches will result in significant reputational, financial and regulatory fallout.
No CEO will want to be at the helm for the next high-profile deepfake scam.
iD. He is one of the premier cybersecurity executives in the US. After joining in 2006, Michael was Global CIO, Global CDO and President at EchoStar, the multi-billion-dollar satellite communications giant.
Michael left EchoStar in 2014 and has applied his expertise at a range of firms in technology, cybersecurity and venture capital.
iD, he is founder, chairman and CEO at innovation lab software and venture capital firm Artius Global Holdings and cybersecurity firm Praelium Systems.
He is co-founder of the National Cybersecurity Intelligence Center and was founder and chairman of the NCC's Rapid Response Center Board.
This Cyber News was published on www.cyberdefensemagazine.com. Publication date: Wed, 29 May 2024 15:13:06 +0000