Deepfake scams have targeted 64% of finance professionals in the UK and USA, according to the 2024 Medius Financial Census. These AI-generated deepfakes, perfect digital replicas of C-suite executives and financial decision-makers, are being used by cyber criminal organisations to authorise false transactions and access institutions, causing immense reputational and financial damage. What’s even more concerning is that 80% of financial professionals would make the payment if they thought the instruction came from a reputable source. In South Africa, only 21% of employees were able to detect deepfake from human in a Kaspersky study. Further complicating the situation is the fact that the technology used to build these deepfakes is readily available online, as Daniel Isaacs, Chief Commercial Officer at Comcorp, points out.
“You can find an AI site capable of building deepfakes through Google and then create a deepfake in a matter of minutes – whether voice or video, it’s easy to do,” he continues. “People don’t need to be tech-savvy, the tools are easily accessible online. Deepfakes are as easy as self-service, and this accessibility introduces a significant risk to organisations. How can financial institutions protect themselves against, well, themselves?”
Isaacs believes the first step is to introduce a reliable biometric detection method capable of running any digital video against biometrically captured data to ensure the person on the call is not a digital replica. Think this sounds dramatic and the idea of a digital fake persuading a real human being to make a transaction sounds like science fiction? There have been high-profile incidents where millions have been stolen from reputable organisations and from unsuspecting individuals thanks to the sophisticated use of deepfake technology.
Perhaps the most newsworthy is when criminals used advanced deepfake technology to effectively orchestrate a digital heist on a multinational company in Hong Kong. They walked away with $26 million in illicit transactions. While many high-profile stories of deepfakes take place in first world countries, as digital interaction and credit processes become more digital in South Africa, this risk becomes highly relevant to the local market.
“Protecting against deepfakes includes layering your processes with multiple checks and balances, all designed to make it increasingly complicated for fraudsters to pull off a successful scam,” says Isaacs. “Incorporate user identity and accessibility checks, introduce seamless customer biometric identity verification systems that don’t feel intrusive but do offer increased trust, and invest in processes that prioritise the protection of customer and corporate data.”
The financial sector faces some of the most challenging hurdles when it comes to security. In addition to providing an alluring target to criminals, they are subject to rigorous compliance and regulatory requirements that put them under immense pressure to stamp security into every corner and crevice. Organisations in this sector require an even deeper layer of protection that ensures the identity of every customer, user and decision-maker is easily verified prior to access or undertaking a transaction.
“Companies need a strict onboarding process that asks for both biometric and physical proof of identity; that way, security systems can immediately verify someone’s identity,” suggests Isaacs. “They also need to introduce technology designed specifically to ensure seamless authentication and verification. This includes the use of liveness detection and deepfake detection – ensuring a real person is at the end of the camera – and ensuring secure and accurate information authentication and encryption.”
Curata, a biometric solution designed by Comcorp, securely authenticates customers in seconds, enabling financial institutions to streamline verification. By employing facial biometrics, patented liveness detection and deepfake detection, Curata confirms the real identity of individuals consenting to financial transactions. This ensures customers are protected from identity fraud and businesses can comply with due diligence requirements in a cost-effective manner.
“We’ve been working within the financial service sector for more than 30 years, processing millions of transactions each month with our partners and have a deep understanding for the need of easy integrations and no-code solutions,” concludes Isaacs. “Our understanding of the threats and the unique expectations of companies within the sector ensures our technology prioritises absolute security and peace of mind. Liveness detection, advanced biometrics and sophisticated onboarding processes combine to create a comprehensive solution that’s capable of providing the deepfake protection companies need today.”
A Regula survey published by Statista shows alarming numbers:
- 46% of fraud experts encountered synthetic identity fraud.
- 37% witnessed voice deepfakes.
- 29% dealt with video deepfakes.
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