As technology evolves, advancements are rapidly being made in fields such as medicine, research, and more. However, it is not without concerns. In recent times, artificial intelligence (AI) has been increasingly leveraged across various industries, providing numerous benefits. Unfortunately, hackers are also exploiting AI, using it to create realistic but fake audiovisual content designed to deceive individuals into divulging sensitive information.

What is Deepfake Phishing?

Deepfake phishing is a sophisticated scam where attackers use AI-generated deepfake technology to create convincing but fake audio or video content. This content is designed to impersonate someone you trust—such as your boss, a colleague, or a service provider—with the goal of tricking you into revealing sensitive information or transferring funds.

How Does Deepfake Phishing Work?

Deepfake phishing operates on the same core principle as other social engineering attacks: confusing or manipulating users, exploiting their trust, and bypassing traditional security measures. Attackers can weaponize deepfakes for phishing attacks in several ways:

• Impersonation in Video Calls: Attackers can employ video deepfakes during Zoom or other video calls to convincingly pose as trusted individuals. This can lead to victims disclosing confidential information, such as credentials, or authorizing unauthorized financial transactions.
• Voice Cloning: By cloning someone’s voice with near-perfect accuracy, attackers can leave voicemail messages or make phone calls that sound convincingly real.

Real-Life Example

One notable instance of deepfake phishing involved a scammer in China who used face-swapping technology to impersonate a trusted individual. The scammer successfully tricked the victim into transferring $622,000. Such incidents underscore the growing danger of video deepfakes in phishing attacks.

Why Should Organizations be Concerned about Deepfake Phishing?

• It’s a Fast-Growing Threat: Deepfake technology is becoming increasingly sophisticated and accessible thanks to generative AI tools. In 2023, incidents of deepfake phishing and fraud surged by an astounding 3,000%.
• It’s Highly Targeted: Attackers can create highly personalized deepfake attacks, targeting individuals based on their specific interests, hobbies, and network of friends. This allows them to exploit vulnerabilities that are unique to select individuals and organizations.
• It’s Difficult to Detect: AI can mimic someone’s writing style, clone voices with near-perfect accuracy, and create AI-generated faces that are indistinguishable from real human faces. This makes deepfake phishing attacks extremely hard to detect.

How Can Organizations Mitigate the Risk of Deepfake Phishing?

• Improve Staff Awareness of Synthetic Content:
  Employees should be made aware of the increasing proliferation and distribution of synthetic content. They must learn not to trust an online persona, individual, or identity solely based on videos, photos, or audio clips on an online profile.
• Train Employees to Recognize and Report Deepfakes:
  Human intuition is a powerful tool in phishing prevention and detection. Employees should be trained to recognize and report fake online identities, visual anomalies (such as lip-sync inconsistencies), jerky movements, unusual audio cues, and irregular or suspicious requests. Organizations that lack this training expertise might consider phishing simulation programs that use real-world social engineering scripts.
• Deploy Robust Authentication Methods to Reduce Identity Fraud Risk:
  Using phishing-resistant multi-factor authentication and zero-trust architecture can help reduce the risk of identity theft and lateral movement within systems. However, security leaders should anticipate that attackers may attempt to bypass authentication systems using clever deepfake-based social engineering techniques.

Improving Solutions to Detect Deepfake Threats

McAfee has introduced a significant upgrade to its AI-powered deepfake detection technology. Developed in collaboration with Intel, this enhancement aims to provide robust defense against the escalating threat of deepfake scams and misinformation. The McAfee Deepfake Detector leverages the advanced capabilities of the Neural Processing Unit (NPU) in Intel Core Ultra processor-based PCs to help consumers distinguish real content from manipulated content.

Deepfake phishing represents a rapidly growing threat that is difficult to detect and highly targeted. As attackers continue to refine their methods, organizations must be proactive in enhancing their defenses. By raising awareness, training employees, and deploying advanced security measures, organizations can mitigate the risks associated with deepfake phishing and protect their sensitive information from this evolving threat.