According to a report by CyberCube, Deepfake technologies could pose a significant threat to businesses over the next two years. The report, titled Social Engineering: Blurring reality and fake, predicts that this will result in significant financial losses for affected organizations.
As the security firm reports, cybercriminals are increasingly evolving in the field of Deepfakes. AI and machine learning technology give them the tools to create lifelike videos and audio clips.
The COVID-19 and remote work are another reason for the spread of Deepfakes, as businesses rely more on audiovisual material.
The study noted that the increasing number of videos and audio clips available on the Internet provide further opportunities to impersonate influential people in order to influence and manipulate others. This is achieved by creating realistic photographs of influential people, as well as using technology that can alter what a person says in a video in a particularly believable way.
These methods are likely to put organizations at risk and lead to significant financial losses. For example, cybercriminals could spoof a CEO and transfer huge sums of money.
Additionally, traditional social engineering have increased with the onset of COVID-19. attacks involve harvesting information available online to create a fake identity. They usually have specific targets and are mainly aimed at governments and large businesses with many employees.
Report author and CyberCube’s head of cybersecurity strategy, Darren Thomson, commented: “As the availability of personal information increases online, criminals are investing in technology to exploit this trend. New and emerging social engineering techniques, such as deepfake, will fundamentally change the cyber threat landscape and are becoming technically feasible and economically viable for criminal organizations of all sizes.”
