Deepfakes: Unpacking this threat and how to protect against it

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The line is getting blurry between fact and fake—between what is real, and what has been altered. And both individuals and organizations are at risk of falling victim.
The prevalence of fake information and deepfakes has the potential to get even worse, with AI-generated content and images set to exponentially grow. Amazon Web Services (AWS) AI Labs has found that 57% of web-based text alone is currently either AI-generated or translated through AI algorithms.
They also predict it could reach as high as 90 per cent by 2026.
Experts are clear that this massive problem comes with a massive cost. The September 2024 ‘Closing the cyber risk protection gap’ paper reports, “the global cost of cybercrime is projected to increase to nearly USD24 trillion by 2027.” The World Economic Forum’s Global Risks Report 2024 has also placed false information as its top risk, for the first time ever.
When the line between fact and fake is so blurry, how does one learn about this threat and how to protect against it? Let’s unpack what constitutes a deepfake, who is at risk of falling victim, and whether it is possible to protect against this threat.
Defining deepfakes: the problem at large
For context, there are three areas of false information often referred to as MDM:
- Misinformation: incorrect or false information that is spread by accident, without specific intent to mislead.
- Disinformation: false information that is deliberately spread, with specific intent to deceive, harm, manipulate or mislead.
- Malinformation: false information based on fact, and taken out of context in order to mislead, harm, and/or manipulate.
Deepfakes further complicate this landscape by creating hyper-realistic media that can damage reputations and sow mistrust. As a form of synthetic content, they are generated artificially instead of being organically created or captured. When this synthetic content appears in the form of images, video or audio, and used to fabricate or manipulate a person's appearance or actions, it becomes a deepfake.
This technology poses a massive threat to individuals—to embarrass, defame, or even damage personal lives and professional reputations.
How to protect against deepfakes
Anyone whose content is on social media or online could technically be at risk.
There are many steps you can take to protect against this growing threat and build your cyber resiliency. Industry best practices for establishing cybersecurity include installing controls like multi-factor authentication, identity and access management solutions, and immutable backups, which create a copy of your information that cannot be changed or altered.
Setting up social media and web monitoring and alerts for finding and tracking MDM related to your brand and organizations is a great way to monitor your own social media, as well as forums, public posts, other websites, reviews, and all mentions of your organization online.
Knowing what to look for—and how to spot MDM—is another valuable skill to understanding both how to discern fact from fake, and how to protect against it.
If you are the victim of MDM, there are steps you can take. The Canadian Centre for Cyber Security advises that responses to correct MDM should be detailed, transparent and factual, and communicated directly to your key audiences via an alternate channel from the MDM.
Be proactive: Start building a toolkit now
Get ahead of the issue by taking the following steps:
1. Search Engine Optimization (SEO) strategy.
Appear as high up in search engine results pages (SERPs) as possible by focusing on your SEO— finding keywords that people are searching for and deciding which your content can rank for. Optimizing your content via ongoing effort increases your chances of a SERP ranking that will rank higher than websites publishing this threatening content.
2. Communicate authentically.
Ensure your content reflects your unique voice and feels authentic (i.e. human) in nature. Authentic communication helps you better connect with your audience.
3. Create community, and engage with them online!
Having customers that engage with you, leave reviews, and shout out your organization online goes a long way in creating social proof. There is an added SEO benefit to this as well, as it signals to search engines that you are trusted.
4. Leverage your stakeholders and networks to create community.
Your networks are full of ambassadors in the making—by encouraging them to amplify your organization and its efforts, you can make your efforts more visible, and increase awareness that can counteract misinformation, disinformation and malinformation.
Final thoughts
Deepfakes are all around us. It may feel or sound like fear mongering, but it’s important to learn about this threat and consider what can be done now to build protection if it happens later.
Discerning fact from fake is more challenging than ever. But by building a strong, resilient and authentic online platform, particularly with support from trusted partners who understand this complex landscape, individuals and organizations can protect themselves and their reputations.