TrustCloud: a strong response to deepfake attacks

Recently, an employee of a Chinese company caused his employer to lose $25 million, falling victim to a deepfake generated by a group of criminals posing as the company’s CEO. At TrustCloud, we employ state-of-the-art technology to prevent the severe consequences of such attacks.

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n this particular case, a Chinese company, whose name remains undisclosed, suffered a significant financial loss due to the CEO fraud. However, similar cases are becoming increasingly common worldwide. According to a Symantec study, this activity affects 400 companies globally every day. 

 The deceived employee, in this instance, transferred 200 million Hong Kong dollars (approximately $25 million USD) in 15 transactions to the fraudsters, who convincingly impersonated colleagues, including the CEO, using a sophisticated deepfake during a video call. 

CEO fraud: a rising impersonation attack 

Though less well-known than other socially engineered scams, CEO fraud is one of the most reputationally and economically damaging. Also known as “CEO phishing” or “CEO impersonation attack,” it involves cybercriminals posing as high-ranking executives to deceive employees, clients, or partners into divulging confidential information or transferring funds—precisely what happened to the aforementioned employee. 

This type of fraud typically involves the use of fake emails or messages that appear to originate from the CEO’s email address. The emails are designed to look legitimate, persuading recipients to take harmful actions such as transferring money, disclosing confidential information, or clicking on malicious links. 

 The messages often convey a sense of urgency and employ social engineering techniques to manipulate recipients into acting quickly without questioning the message’s authenticity. The ultimate goal is to gain access to sensitive information or execute fraudulent financial transactions. 

In the case at hand, the deceived employee had previously received phishing emails, purportedly sent by his superior, requesting suspicious operations. Although initially dismissive, he fell victim to the deception when summoned to a video meeting with not only the CEO but also other colleagues. The criminals had elevated the scam to the next level, creating flawless deepfakes that prompted the employee to execute the transfers, causing significant financial harm and jeopardizing the company’s security. 

Contact our fraud experts to prevent economic losses. 

To prevent CEO fraud, it is crucial for organizations to implement security measures, such as identity verification in financial transactions, ongoing cybersecurity education for employees, and careful authorization policies before undertaking significant actions based on email requests. Additionally, fostering a security-conscious culture within the organization is essential for employees to be vigilant and identify potential fraud attempts. 

TrustCloud confronts the deepfake challenge with innovative detection functionality

Deepfakes, created through the use of cutting-edge artificial intelligence and machine learning, are becoming increasingly common and alarmingly realistic. In 2023, 500,000 video and voice deepfakes were shared on social media. The magnitude of this figure underscores the urgency of addressing this problem. A combined effort of effective detection of these manipulations and policy and regulatory measures is vital to mitigate their impact on citizens’ trust and privacy, in addition to the economic havoc.

As experts in secure digital transactions, we embrace cutting-edge technology based on Artificial Intelligence models trained at the highest level, capable of recognizing distinct patterns of deepfakes. 

This technology is applied in real-time identification processes on our platform and in retrospective data analysis. It covers both images and videos and is supported by a team of artificial intelligence and cybersecurity experts constantly staying abreast of the latest trends and techniques in deepfake generation. 

Advanced algorithms are utilized to analyze the probability of impersonation or identity theft attempts using real images of individuals. They also assess the integrity of video content to identify any facial manipulation and determine whether a face in an image is real or generated using GAN. 

TrustCloud’s automatic deepfake detection safeguards people’s identities, always with prior informed consent for the use of their biometric information, and fortifies video identification, KYC (Know Your Customer), and KYB (Know Your Business) processes. It focuses on addressing all aspects of a deepfake procedure and seamlessly integrates into complex transactions. 

Request personalized guidance now and prevent economic losses and damage to your company’s reputation.