SPYSCAPE dives into deepfakes and deception this week, examining the most jaw-dropping illusions and getting down and dirty with social media deepfakes - the good, the bad, and the dangerous. With hackers now using deepfakes to impersonate employees on phone and video calls, weâll also look at how you can protect your image and encrypt your data.
What exactly is a deepfake?
If youâve seen the fake Tom Cruise TikTok videos youâll know the Mission Impossible star isnât really pratfalling into shops or running for president. Deepfake is artificial intelligence-based media manipulation that generates realistic-looking or sounding content. Impersonating celebrities is just one use, however. Hereâs what you need to know about deepfakes - including why you should be concerned.
When Morgan Freeman suggested we question reality, his cunning video set Twitterâs nerves on edge - mainly because Freeman didnât actually appear in the video. âWhat is your perception of reality?â âMorganâ asks. From a faux Keanu Reeves to Steve Buscemi as Jennifer Lawrence, we compiled 15 unnerving celeb deepfakes to introduce you to the era of synthetic reality and how to detect forgeries.
Deepfakes are so pervasive they threaten national security. The video of Ukraineâs leader above may be real but a fake video of Volodymyr Zelenskyy circulated in 2022 asking civilians to surrender to Russia. Europeâs politicians were then duped into video calls with a man pretending to be the âmayor of Kyivâ. Is US democracy also under attack? We trace the dark history and peer into the future of dirty deepfakes.
Some LinkedIn members were flattered when âKeenan Ramsey,â wanted to connect. After all, Keenan had high-flying contacts and a fresh AI-generated profile photo. Too bad Keenan was also a spy prowling LinkedIn and Facebook, one of more than 1,000 honey-bots hoovering up data and conducting deepfake job interviews. Their goal is often to steal corporate data. Find out if you are already a target.
While companies may have come to terms with ransomware, many are not prepared for the next online threat - synthetic media attacks. Cybercriminals have already used AI voice cloning to impersonate a company CEO and trick its bank into transferring $35m. Hereâs how hackers use AI and machine learning to create hacker holograms and what you can do about it.
You can defend yourself and your data with a Virtual Private Network (VPN) and use other methods to help secure online privacy and encrypt data. VPNs also protect video content and restrict images from being used for malicious purposes. Here are five simple ways for you to take control of your online safety.
