According to Cyber Magazine, hackers have leveraged deepfakes by over 40% since 2019 for their unethical operations. Other recent incidents also indicate that using deepfake technology for malicious reasons is increasing.

This blog will examine the reasons and cases for its usage and how governments and businesses can protect themselves from the rising cybersecurity threat.

Deepfake Technology: Power and Risks

In layperson’s terms, it is a technology by which a subject’s face can be modified into a target face or audio. It can also be the other way around, where a voice can be modified on a target face. But when looked at scientifically, the simplest way to understand it is its reliance on artificial neural networks. For example, when one logs in to an iPhone with facial authentication, the phone’s technology captures all the nodal points of biometrics or the face for authentication.

Deepfake technology works similarly. It’s a computer system that recognizes patterns in data. Developing a deep fake photo or video involves feeding thousands of images into artificial neural networks that need to be trained. The algorithms then train the data to identify and reconstruct the face or voice patterns.

It can be leveraged for good causes, like David Beckham’s deepfake, in which he was seen speaking in 9 languages to raise awareness about malaria. But at the same time, it can be used maliciously to commit fraud and spread misinformation.

Deepfake Threats in Real-World Incidents

A few major incidents have occurred in the last few years, like the one involving the Russia—Ukraine War. In March 2022, a video circulated on social media showing the Ukrainian President directing his soldiers to surrender to Russian Forces.

In another incident, a crypto project team was tricked into believing they were meeting a Binance Executive to list their tokens on the platform. The hackers achieved this by taking the videos of a particular executive available on social channels and digitally altering the videos to create an AI Hologram.

AI-Driven Deepfakes and Cybersecurity Challenges

Any cyber-attack is not a one-step approach. It involves several processes, such as understanding how to get into the environment, exfiltrating the data, and covering your tracks to avoid detection.

One of the reasons deep fake attacks have increased over the years is AI’s leverage to make deep fake audio and videos believable. AI is evolving at an unprecedented rate, but companies can keep pace by training personnel to deal with the attacks. When an organization readies itself to deal with audio deepfake attacks, the attackers are already ahead of the curve with video deepfakes.

Another critical factor is the need for more budgets for cybersecurity. Investing heavily in research and technology is essential to keeping pace with constantly evolving technology such as AI. Still, most businesses need help investing in the necessary cybersecurity infrastructure and specialized personnel.

South Africa: Preparing for Deepfake Impact

There has yet to be a significant impact in South Africa. Still, with the rapid evolution of technology and the interconnectedness of the internet, it can soon escalate across the globe. All it takes is a bad character to identify and exploit an opportunity. Significant events like conflicts and elections are great opportunities for these characters to use deepfake media. Since these don’t occur in isolated pockets of the world, it is also a matter of time for South Africa.

Countering Deepfakes: Tools, Laws, and Awareness

Microsoft has a tool called Video Authentication Tool that allows one to identify whether a video is real. Though it is only 70% effective, it is still a start. However, understanding that no tool is 100% effective, businesses need to understand the danger, how it works, and how one can be vigilant to safeguard from such cyberattacks. Moreover, if an organization still succumbs to such attacks, it is essential to educate the audience and help them differentiate between actual and digitally altered content. Some crypto-algorithms help identify the original video and alert the respective stakeholders if required.

It is difficult but possible to develop counter technologies faster. Organizations and governments will need much more investment in cybersecurity to tackle this problem, which needs to be improved now. However, the potential of deepfake technology to cause far-reaching harm should motivate relevant stakeholders to accelerate efforts to prevent it.

South Africa has the POPI Act, which prevents someone from using another’s private and personal information. However, in deepfake attacks,  the attacker tries to deceive, so this regulation is lacking.

In the US, a law states that if someone is caught creating deepfake content for malicious purposes, they could be jailed for it.  So, South Africa can go this route as well.

But beyond laws, there should also be awareness about the technology and its repercussions, similar to how campaigns were launched to educate the public and tackle misinformation about COVID-19 and vaccines.

Education and Tech: Defending Against Deepfake Risks

Deepfake technology is still relatively new and evolving rapidly, so the best way to tackle its malicious use cases is through education. Businesses and governments should be proactive instead of reactive when dealing with it.

As seen with examples like the case involving the Ukrainian President, deepfake content can have far-reaching consequences if not adequately addressed, so it is best tackled with awareness tactics coupled with technologies like the Microsoft tool and cryptography hashing.

Kumar Vaibhav

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