Cybercriminals are quickly using generative artificial intelligence (AI) to perpetrate highly sophisticated impersonation scams at scale. This dangerous development endangers companies worldwide. Cybercriminals are using generative AI to a scary degree. They deploy it in enterprise voice calls, video meetings and chat threads to sinisterly impersonate actual employees.
Generative AI technology is becoming more widely available. Criminals have since picked it up to generate highly realistic deepfake content for all kinds of nefarious purposes. During voice calls, they have the technology to produce synthetic voices. These voices come extremely close to reproducing the actual employees or executives in the organization. This practice is often used in order to deceive unknowing victims into revealing personal data or approving illegitimate payments.
Additionally, generative AI is being used for more than calls. During virtual meetings, cybercriminals can use deepfake technology to recreate the look and demeanor of real participants. This is a dishonest way to mislead other meeting participants. Moreover, it erodes the faith and trust that lie at the communication heart of successful business dealings.
Chat threads have been vulnerable to this new threat. Cybercriminals are able to break into corporate chat systems. They pose as real life employees, creating interactions through AI generated text that copies the voice and tone of authentic team members. This type of impersonation is used to spread misinformation and makes implementing security practices within organizations even more difficult.
In all the above examples, these cybercriminals are looking to impersonate real people and do so convincingly. In doing this, they prey upon weaknesses in organizations to obtain sensitive information illegally. Companies are going all-in on remote work and digital communication tools. This change puts impersonation tactics at the forefront like never before.
Organizations are encouraged to take proactive steps to prevent this ever-increasing threat. To protect impersonation attempts, institute strong verification measures before engaging in any communication. Besides this, up employee cybersecurity training resources and even implement AI-based detection tools to flag deepfake content.