The deepfake dilemma: The importance of deepfake awareness training

Enterprise security departments face a plethora of risks. One of the most significant threats that has emerged in recent years is that of deepfakes.

These sophisticated artificial intelligence-powered manipulations of audio and video content seem rather innocuous on paper, but their creation and dissemination are exemplars of a broader large-scale organizational threat. As far as security departments are concerned, implementing a comprehensive deepfake awareness training program has become critical for forward-thinking executives managing enterprise risk and security compliance.

The deepfake dilemma

Deepfakes utilize advanced AI techniques to convincingly create or alter audio and video content with worrying realism. People often find it difficult to distinguish between fake and real content, given that individuals portrayed in deepfakes appear to say or do things that they never did. 

It can be argued that methodical, supervised and ethical use of AI images and content is reasonable and beneficial. AI-generated images and content are becoming increasingly common in legitimate business applications, from marketing to product design. 

However, when AI deepfakes proliferate across the web with relative ease, it illustrates a wider security problem. This duality underscores the importance of nuanced training that helps employees navigate the complex landscape of AI-enhanced media. 

This democratization of technology, while innovative, opens new avenues for potential fraudulent and malicious use. A recent incident in Hong Kong saw a finance worker transfer $25 million to scammers after participating in a video conference with someone they believed to be their company’s CEO. In reality, a sophisticated deepfake of this individual was created, thus draining this worker and organization of staggering sums of money.

Risks to enterprise security

Deepfakes and AI misuse present various threats to organizational security. It’s fair to say that they are multifaceted, where one fraudulent deepfake can present a whole host of issues:

1. Reputational damage: Videos of ‘executives’ making controversial, hyperbolic or sensationalist statements can go viral, and if the deepfake is convincing enough, cause immediate and lasting damage to the individual and company they represent.
2. Financial fraud: As demonstrated by the Hong Kong case, deepfakes can be used to authorize fraudulent transactions and facilitate money laundering schemes. 
3. Operational disruption: False information disseminated through deepfakes can lead to misguided decision-making and disrupt company operations that affect their stakeholder and customer relationships.
4. Data breaches: Deepfakes could be used in phishing and social engineering attacks to gain unauthorized access to sensitive customer or financial information. This information can then be sold on the black market or used to propagate illegal activity by malicious actors.
5. Penalties and fines: Companies may face legal and regulatory consequences if deepfakes created using their brand or executives cause harm to third parties. It could also cause a company’s accreditation to be revoked.

The case for deepfake awareness training

Given these notable risks, the importance of deepfake awareness training cannot be understated. 

Training equips employees — regardless of position or seniority — with the skills to identify potential deepfakes and mitigate cyber threats from infiltrating their organizations. This includes (but is not limited to) recognizing visual or auditory anomalies, red flags and suspicious wording that may indicate manipulation. Awareness programs encourage healthy skepticism and reinforce the importance of questioning content validity and authenticity, particularly when it comes to strategic decisions and sensitive information dissemination.

Training can help organizations establish clear procedures and channels for reporting and incident response, thus minimizing risk and potential damage (both financial and reputational). When organizations implement proactive measures for detection and containment, they reinforce to their stakeholders and customers that their digital security posture remains intact. Furthermore, regulations around AI — while constantly evolving — already mandate strong due diligence and risk management compliance, and training helps organizations maintain this.

Implementing effective deepfake awareness training

To create a robust deepfake awareness program, consider the following elements:

1. Diverse curriculum: Explore the technology behind deepfakes and their common use cases, from the benign to the malicious. Extend the curriculum to include detection and response techniques and protocols.
2. Tabletop exercises: Provide interactive sessions where employees can apply real-world training to real-world deepfake identification scenarios. This will help to build confidence and competence in detection.
3. Updates: Enhance training programs with new modules to address emerging threats and new attack vectors, to expand team knowledge.
4. Enroll across departments: Deepfake awareness training should be rolled out across the entire organization, not exclusively IT and security teams. 
5. Ethical simulations: Conduct simulated deepfake attacks to test employee readiness and response strategies. Identify areas for improvement and refine approaches accordingly.

It’s clear that deepfakes are a growing threat that organizations cannot afford to overlook. They must address this problem proactively if they want to preserve their integrity and safeguard their operations, data and customer relationships. As a next step, organizations should consider impartially assessing security infrastructure and measures and seeking out comprehensive training program providers to create a bespoke program tailored to their needs, regulatory constraints, and risk profile.