Tag: deepfake
Deepfake Phishing Targets Trump’s Chief of Staff – May 30th
In today's daily roundup - Deepfake Phishing Targets Trump’s Chief of Staff, ConnectWise Breached by Suspected Nation-State Actor, and Unbound Security Raises $4M Seed Funding.
Deepfake news lures new victims
Deepfake videos of TV news presenters are being used to dupe gullible viewers into logging onto illegal gambling sites where malware is then downloaded onto their devices. News anchors on Sky and other channels appear to be quoting Apple CEO Tim Cook recommending an app where users can easily get rich by winning vast sums of money. The news reports have been identified as deepfake videos. It has been further revealed that thousands of similar videos of deepfakes of journalists have been circulated in the US and the UK.
From deepfakes to in-person fraudsters
Boeing Employees' Credit Union (BECU) is a not-for-profit credit union based in Washington, dedicated to improving the financial well-being of its members and communities. It has grown beyond serving Boeing’s employees to more than 1.5 million members and $29 billion in assets. In an exclusive interview, Sean Murphy, Chief Information Security Officer (CISO) at BECU, explains the changing cyber-threats now facing consumers. The cybersecurity challenges faced by all consumers have escalated with the growth of artificial intelligence (AI). We have witnessed the growing use of botnets, and AI is at such a stage that it can be used to attempt to gain access to accounts on an individual level. The use of virtual private networks (VPNs) simplifies this process and makes it difficult to track. Remember – while organizations are constantly monitoring for threats and attacks, the cybercriminals only have to get it right one time to cause a highly damaging breach. Advanced persistent threats (APTs) have now become a major ongoing threat. Financial institution employees are the first line of defense against cyber attackers and play a key role in protecting consumers. As such, a robust cybersecurity team and the regular training of employees is crucial.
Companies complacent about AI-generated cyber-attacks
Companies are largely ignorant of the looming threat of increased artificial intelligence (AI) identity theft, despite the fact that 93 per cent of companies surveyed suffered two or more identity-related breaches in 2024. According to leading identity management company CyberArk Software, executives and employees alike are overconfident of their ability to spot ongoing ID-theft and subsequent cyber breaches, with over 75 per cent of respondents to a recent survey saying that they are confident their employees can identify deepfake videos or audio of their leaders. “Employees are [also] largely confident in their ability to identify a deepfake video or audio of the leaders in their organization. Whether we chalk it up to the illusion of control, planning fallacy, or just plain human optimism, this level of systemic confidence is misguided,” warns Cyberark following a survey of 4,000 US-based employees.
Companies must identify the value of their data
Most organizations have no clear idea of the value of the data they hold on themselves and their customers. According to technology research and consulting firm Gartner, 30 percent of chief data and analytics officers (CDAOs) say that their top challenge is the inability to measure data, analytics, and AI's impact on business outcomes. Gartner also reports that only 22 percent of organizations surveyed have defined, tracked, and communicated business impact metrics for the bulk of their data and analytics (D&A) use cases. “There is a massive value vibe around data, where many organizations talk about the value of data, desire to be data-driven, etc., but there are few who can substantiate it,” said Michael Gabbard, senior director analyst at Gartner.
The coming St Valentine’s Day cyber-massacre
This coming Friday is St Valentine’s Day and cybercriminals all over the world are rubbing their hands together with glee at the harvest they intend to reap. Developments in artificial intelligence and the widespread availability of off-the-shelf cybercrime software have enabled a new generation of cyber-scams specifically designed around St Valentine’s Day. In the recent past, cybercriminals typically used February 14th as an excuse to introduce themselves to lonely people with a view to patiently winning their victims’ trust in the short-term and cruelly robbing them of their savings in the longer term.
Identifying fraudsters on the internet
In an exclusive interview with Cyber Intelligence, Patrick Harding, chief product architect at digital identity security company, Ping Identity, outlines the growing threat of identity theft and fraud, explaining how it evolved and what can be done to counter it. Everybody is forced into digital transactions and relationships and identity management is fundamental to knowing who you are interacting with. The problem goes back to the beginning of the internet in the 1990s and a cartoon of a dog in front of a computer with the caption, “On the internet no-one knows you’re a dog!” That really illustrates the core problem of identifying online users and customers. The extent to which this is carried out largely depends on the sensitivity of the activity concerned. There is a big difference between buying a pair of jeans online and opening a bank account. In both cases, there is a significant series of steps which could include requesting passport ID for financial services.
AI enables ransomware boom
A new ransomware group, named Funksec, is the latest example of relatively inexperienced cybercriminals using AI to develop weaponized malware. The group claims that over 85 organizations fell victim to its ransomware attacks in December alone, potentially surpassing every other ransomware group in terms of victim numbers. According to Check Point Research: “FunkSec operators appear to use AI-assisted malware development which can enable even inexperienced actors to quickly produce and refine advanced tools…Presenting itself as a new Ransomware-as-a-Service (RaaS) operation, FunkSec appears to have no known connections to previously identified ransomware gangs.”
Insider attacks rise by over 50 percent
Insider attacks, where staff either deliberately or accidently compromise an organization’s security, are rising steeply. According to Cybersecurity firm, Gurucul, almost half of organizations, 48 percent, report that insider attacks have become increasingly common over the last 12 months. Just over half, 51 percent, experienced six or more such attacks in the past year. Gurucul’s 2024 Insider Threat report identifies the major causes for the sudden spike in insider attacks: “The top three drivers behind the surge in insider attacks are complex IT environments (39 percent), the adoption of new technologies (37 percent), and inadequate security measures (33 percent).”
Cybercriminals ramp up AI-driven deepfake scams
Cyber toolkits for threat actors are now harnessing the latest deepfake technology and artificial intelligence (AI) for targeted email attacks, known as ‘spear-phishing.’ According to cloud cybersecurity firm Egress, a staggering 82 percent of phishing toolkits mentioned deepfakes, and 75 percent referenced AI. The growing threat presented by the use of deepfakes by cybercriminals was highlighted earlier this year at InfoSecurity Europe in London. Widely available toolkits now enable even relatively unskilled hackers to create highly convincing video and audio clips of chief executives (CEOs) and other senior staff members in any specific organization. All the threat actor needs is a short video clip of the person they wish to impersonate. This can easily be copied from a corporate seminar or from a video podcast.
Banks swamped by fake account scams
In an exclusive interview with Cyber Intelligence, Andy Sheldon, North American VP of US-based ID fraud specialist Deduce reveals how banks are now struggling to combat armies of fake account holders currently being generated by artificial intelligence (AI).
EU AI Act to act as a template for other regions
The European Union (EU) Artificial Intelligence (AI) Act, which came into effect earlier this month, is now set to act as a template for other regions, such as the US. The American government has already drafted an AI Bill of Rights, which aims to create a similar framework regulating AI. However, while governments are rightly concerned about the personal privacy aspect of the universal adoption of AI, some have a dangerously bullish view of the new technology’s potential. Despite a deluge of hilarious howlers, such as Google’s AI-driven images of African Vikings and American founding fathers, politicians anxious not to be left behind in the tech race swallowed Silicon Valley’s AI hype hook, line, and sinker.