AI is here to stay. This transformative technology has the potential to make sweeping changes across healthcare, business, commerce, and everyday life. Adoption statistics show that around 40% of companies actively use AI in one business function, and another 42% intend to incorporate AI into their business.
However, an Infotech trends report for 2025 warns that AI isn’t all positive news. Deepfake threats are rising, and AI-based cyberattacks and deepfakes are rapidly becoming the biggest cybersecurity threat. Evidencing this, a 2024 iProov report found a 704% increase in “Face Swap” deepfake attacks.
The MSP is at the forefront of the cyber-battleground, providing the support clients need to protect against this most insidious threat. Deepfake threats are a force to be reckoned with in the ongoing cybersecurity battleground, but the MSP can rise to the challenge by delivering anti-deepfake capabilities.
The Dangers of Deepfakes
Deepfake technology has changed the threat landscape beyond recognition. The technology uses AI to manipulate video, photo, written communication, or audio. Generative Adversarial Networks (GANs) and Large Language Models (LLMs) provide the essential ingredients for deepfake generation and threat propagation. The results may be fake but they are highly realistic.
Deepfake attacks typically aim to generate videos, photos, content, etc., that closely mimic people we trust - co-workers, friends, family, etc. The deepfake is then used to carry out a scam or initiate other forms of cyber-attack. As a method, deepfake campaigns rely on social engineering tactics like manipulating behaviors and exploiting trusted relationships. However, one of the most concerning things about deepfakes is the ease with which a campaign can be created. There are increasing numbers of apps that can generate a believable deepfake. And they are cheap. Deepfake apps can produce deepfakes for as little as $3 a month. The cheapness, accessibility, and believability of deepfakes have weaponized AI, resulting in a rise in complex and challenging deepfake attacks.
Examples of Recent Deepfake Cyberattacks
In 2024, one multinational company paid over $25 million to attackers when an employee was tricked into believing they were dealing with the CFO during a deepfake video call. The video conference had several attendees; all were fake, apart from the victim. The call was initiated using a phishing email.
The above attack scenario used face swapping and incorporated the growing trend of “deepfake phishing.”
In a similar 2023 deepfake scam involving a video of a “friend,” a businessman lost over $622,000.
Campaigns using deepfake for financial gain are growing, and business costs are staggering. A 2024 deepfake fraud report found that 50% of companies have experienced a video deepfake and 49% an audio deepfake. Of those impacted by a deepfake scam, the average losses were $450,000.
The spectre of deepfakes casts a long shadow. The MSP is uniquely positioned to tackle this dangerous security vector: An MSP can provide the multiple layers of protection needed to prevent the impact of deepfake attacks.
Five MSP Weapons to Prevent Deepfakes
The problem with deepfakes is that there is no easy answer to prevention. The believability of deepfakes provides cyber criminals with a highly effective social engineering tool. Social engineering is already used in up to 90% of cyberattacks at some point in the attack chain; being able to manipulate people by tricking them into believing they are communicating with a trusted person can only make human-centered cyberattacks even more successful. MSPs must create a package of protection, delivering layers of deepfake prevention, based on the following five measures:
Offer Security Awareness Training as a Service
Social engineering-based attacks rely on tricking people and manipulating behavior. Deepfake phishing is now out in the wild and is used to encourage people to enter a deepfake video conference or other communication channel. Security awareness training is as vital in the era of deepfakes as ever.
Employees and other staff must be trained to identify common tactics like deepfake video calls, fraudulent videos, and other deepfake communications, including voice calls. Targeted cyber awareness programs that supply social engineering training should be carried out regularly to keep up with the latest and evolving deepfake cyber threats. By offering security awareness training as a service, an MSP can deliver exceptional training to multiple clients, all delivered using a cloud-based interface.
Get Started with TitanHQ's Security Awareness Training.
Deploy Advanced Threat Detection Tools
Security awareness training provides a first layer of defense, but deepfakes are increasingly becoming more realistic. Additional measures must be used to provide robust detection and prevention. AI-enabled phishing detection and other AI-powered cybersecurity tools detect audio, video, or written communications anomalies, flagging potential deepfake attacks. AI-enabled security tools designed with an MSP in mind can provide vital deepfake prevention to multiple clients using a SaaS model.
Enhance Authentication and Verification Processes
An MSP should advise and help implement robust identity management as a fundamental security measure. This involves enabling robust authentication and authorization using multi-factor authentication (MFA), biometrics, and ID verification. Enabling least-privilege access and zero-trust security based on strong authentication and authorization mitigates the impact of some deepfake attacks.
Proactively Monitor Digital Threats
Deepfake detection and prevention is about vigilance. Vigilance is observed using the right tools and measures to identify deepfake attacks. However, vigilance should extend to deepfake threat monitoring. As an MSP, you can offer your clients deepfake monitoring by watching closely social media platforms, dark web forums, and public content. An MSP can provide a service to clients that alerts them to signs of fake media or identity impersonation targeting your clients; you can forewarn your customers and prepare employees for potential deepfake campaigns.
Develop Incident Response Playbooks for Clients
As deepfake-based attacks increase in volume and sophistication, your clients must be ready to handle the onslaught. Work with your clients to create deepfake-aware incident response plans. Create and maintain customizable incident response plans tailored to handle deepfake-related threats, ensuring your clients are prepared to respond effectively.
To help develop your deepfake incident response playbook, TitanHQ has created a guide based on the OWASP recommendations on ‘How to Mitigate Deepfake Events.’
The guide explores OWASP's advice and offers practical ways to prevent a deepfake attack. It covers the importance of process adherence, robust financial controls and verification, cultivating awareness, and creating and maintaining incident response plans.
These five measures form the anti-deepfake package delivered by an MSP. Having these measures in place means that IT managers and MSPs can safeguard their organizations and clients against the growing threat of deepfakes, preserving trust, security, and operational integrity.
Enhance Cybersecurity with Comprehensive Phishing Simulation Programs
AI is here to stay, and organizations should leverage AI tools to enhance internal and external security while driving business growth. However, with the rise of deepfake threats, leaders must proactively address AI-driven risks. Keeping security strategies current is essential to safeguarding business continuity.
Enhance cybersecurity by implementing comprehensive phishing simulation programs to proactively mitigate risks, bolster defense mechanisms, and educate users on spotting social engineering.
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