When Deep-Live-Cam first launched in April of 2024, it created immediate shockwaves: Only weeks earlier, Microsoft teased its VASA-1 research that creates realistic gen-AI generated videos from just a single image, with no immediate intention to productize it.

Video conferencing, for all its convenience, has proven to be particularly vulnerable to sophisticated forms of digital attacks. With sophisticated deepfake technology already available as end-user services at low cost, attackers find new ways to manipulate what we see and hear on the screen.

In recent years, AI-generated content has evolved to the point where deepfake technology has materialized from theory to a major threat in virtual meetings.

Meta has unveiled Movie Gen, a suite of AI models capable of generating and editing video, audio, and images, including creating realistic videos from a single photo.

Deepfake incidents are expected to rise by 60% in 2024, with over 150,000 cases globally.

U.S. Senator Ben Cardin was recently targeted by a deepfake operation impersonating Ukraine’s former Foreign Minister, Dmytro Kuleba.

A recent Deloitte poll indicates that over half of C-suite executives expect an increase in deepfake financial fraud targeting their companies within the next year.

Deloitte's September 2024 press release highlights a significant rise in deepfake financial fraud incidents, with over 25% of organizations reporting at least one such event in the past year.

EMO is an audio-driven framework for generating expressive portrait videos using a single reference image and audio input (e.g., talking, singing).

The software Deep-Live-Cam allows users to apply a person's face from a single photo onto live webcam footage, mimicking their expressions and movements.

A Ferrari executive was targeted in a deepfake scam where a scammer impersonated CEO Benedetto Vigna using AI to mimic his voice on WhatsApp.

North Korean IT workers are exploiting U.S. hiring practices to land remote jobs, even with security-conscious firms like KnowBe4.

Employment scams surged in 2023, with a 118% rise in job scam reports, largely fueled by AI and remote work trends.

A Telesign report highlights a significant trust gap regarding AI use for fraud protection, with 87% of Americans expecting businesses to uphold digital privacy but only 34% trusting them to use AI effectively.

AI-driven cybercrime has escalated, making impersonation tactics like email spoofing and social media fraud easier to execute with generative AI (GenAI).

Deloitte's 2024 report highlights the escalating threat of deepfake-enabled fraud in the banking sector, exacerbated by advancements in generative AI. The report notes a 700% surge in deepfake incidents within financial technology in 2023, underscoring the increasing sophistication of fraudulent schemes.

Deepfake scams are increasingly exploiting AI to defraud companies.

Arup, a British design and engineering firm, fell victim to a deepfake scam that led to a Hong Kong employee unknowingly paying $25 million to fraudsters.

Deloitte's May 2024 report, "Generative AI and the Fight for Trust," examines the growing concern among executives regarding deepfake incidents and their impact on organizational trust in generative AI (GenAI).

WPP CEO Mark Read was the target of a deepfake scam where fraudsters used AI-generated voice clones and fake images to impersonate him during a Microsoft Teams meeting.

Microsoft's VASA-1 is an AI model designed to generate lifelike videos of a person talking or singing based on a single image and audio input. It uses machine learning to create realistic facial expressions, head movements, and lip-syncing.

Police in Hong Kong and Xi'an have warned about a rise in AI-powered deepfake scams after a Hong Kong employee transferred HK$200 million ($25.5 million) to fraudsters posing as executives via deepfaked video calls.

In July 2023, OpenAI discontinued its AI Classifier, a tool designed to distinguish between human-written and AI-generated text, due to its "low rate of accuracy."

The author creates a deepfake by replacing Mark Zuckerberg’s face with Star Trek’s Data using deepfake software.