We’ve apparently now entered an era known as Deepfake Season

👉 This is part of Truth Hunters

The recent US elections warned us about the prevalence of Deepfakes. However, there is a more immediate threat in terms of their use in executive extortion and cyber threat.

Yes, Deepfakes are revolutionising digital crime, enabling sophisticated attacks against executives through Black Mirror like attacks.

Criminals are now using AI to create explicit or compromising fake content. The FBI has reported a rise in cases where cybercriminals use AI to produce manipulated explicit images or videos of individuals without their consent. These materials are then employed in sextortion schemes, where victims are coerced into paying ransoms or providing additional compromising content under the threat of public exposure.

In a high profile case Mark Read, CEO of WPP, was impersonated using AI-generated voice cloning and video footage. Scammers created a fake WhatsApp account with his photo and orchestrated a Microsoft Teams call, to deceive executives into divulging sensitive information (see here : https://www.ft.com/content/308c42af-2bf8-47e4-a360-517d5391b0b0).

Most interesting because
We're entering an era where your digital identity can be completely fabricated, and destroyed with minimal effort. The real threat here isn't financial loss, but the systematic erosion of personal trust.