What is a Deepfake?

Deepfake is a type of fake media content that a deep learning machine generates. It usually takes the form of a video with or without audio “doctored” or invented to make it appear that someone or people have said or done something they have not.

Moreover, deepfake uses machine learning and computer processing to generate realistic audio and video content that portrays events aside from more conventional methods of producing the same effect, including sophisticated audio-video editing and splicing. However, users primarily use this tool for face swapping, which involves lip-syncing the intended audio while imposing the head of one or more people onto another person’s body.

How to Create Deepfake?

Creating a deepfake is not easy; thus, it is challenging for someone with mediocre computer abilities. Still, anyone can experiment and develop deepfakes using available computer equipment from various platforms, like GitHub. In contrast, previously, it would have taken extensive resources and abilities that were only accessible to a few specialists.

Software that examines different aspects of an original content, like skin tone, the subject’s facial expression, the head’s angle or tilt, and ambient lighting, is frequently used to create deepfakes. The software then reconstructs the image with the replacement face in that context.

How Does Deepfake Impact Cybersecurity?

Deepfake is a modern version of the old practice of media manipulation. With the arrival of Generative Adversarial Networks (GANs), media manipulation has evolved and separated itself from the old strategies of modifying audio and video cassettes and continuing to use editing programs such as Photoshop.

However, deepfake provides a whole new path for threat actors, which is not compelling. Some articles may overestimate the relationship between deepfake and traditional phishing threats.

Admittedly, deepfake has the potential to gain tremendous attention, moving rapidly and going viral as people are enticed by fake media showing unlikely events. Whether it’s a politician speaking incoherently, a celebrity caught in a compromising circumstance, or contentious words ascribed to a public person, such content has the potential to be widely shared.

Hackers could exploit these instances by using deepfake to lure individuals into accessing malicious links or redirecting them to harmful websites under the guise of seemingly harmless content.

Conclusion

With tools for producing a deepfake now available to anybody, it is fair to be concerned about the technology’s potential usage for malicious purposes. However, this is true for almost any technological innovation; some people will always discover methods to take advantage of it at the expense of others.

Nonetheless, the deepfake technology results from the same improvements as other machine learning techniques that improve our lives in countless ways.

How can iZOOlogic help my Company or Organisation?

Find out how iZOOlogic can protect you against deepfake strategies through our Threat Intelligence solutions.

To find out more about how iZOOlogic can help protect your company’s cyber security, schedule a demo.