Many deepfake videos can be found on social media platforms such as TikTok and YouTube. They are often created by people to make parodies of viral moments of celebrities and politicians.
But what was once deemed harmless is now considered very dangerous as it can ruin a person's reputation. It also is becoming a huge security risk for businesses.
Deepfake's Effect on Businesses
According to a report released by cloud service firm VMware, deepfake attacks on businesses are on the rise.
Rick McElroy, the cybersecurity strategist at VMware, said that cybercriminals are now incorporating deepfakes into their attack methods to avoid security controls.
Two out of three respondents in VMware's report saw malicious deepfakes used as part of an attack. It is a 13% increase from 2021, with email as the top delivery method.
McElroy added that the new goal of bad actors and hackers is to use deepfake technology to compromise organizations and gain access to their environment. They can do this by duping employees into thinking they are dealing with real people.
Also Read: Scientists Use AI to Determine Fakes: How to Spot Deepfake Videos-- Look at Their Eyes!
According to The Guardian, several incidents have been reported where deepfake was used to trick employees into transferring funds to scammers.
In 2019, an employee of a UK-based energy firm transferred $250,000 to criminals after being tricked into thinking that the recipient was the firm's CEO, according to The Wall Street Journal.
Due to the alarming cases of theft being reported, the FBI is now warning businesses that scammers are using deepfake to create employees online for remote-work positions in order to gain access to corporate information.
Deepfake poses a new security challenge to a lot of corporations. It is not hard for scammers to create deepfakes since a lot of videos and audio of thousands of people are available online, thanks to social media.
The question now is, how can you protect your business from this growing danger?
Protect Your Business From Deepfakes
The most common reason for security breaches is human error. It is important to recognize deepfake scams.
Train staff, especially those working in roles related to the payment of money, and explain the threats posed by deepfakes and how they can be identified.
Compliance procedures should also be tightened around the authorization of payments. You can do this by requiring all payments to be requested in writing from company email accounts and not over the phone, creating multiparty authorization of larger payments, and building a strong culture of "no-exceptions in any case."
It is also important to invest in training tools such as Phishingbox or KnowBe4 to test your employees' awareness of potential danger.
According to Business Going Digital, you can also invest in IT professionals to keep the staff current with update sessions. The best line of defense against deepfakes and other threats is training.
Also, ensure that the business insurance cover includes losses suffered from deepfake-based fraud and other scams.
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This article is owned by Tech Times
Written by Sophie Webster
