Deepfake Alert: Could We Be Next?
The Imminent Reality of Your Deepfake Video is closer than you think
Microsoft recently announced a groundbreaking technology capable of crafting highly realistic videos from a mere single image. At first glance, this innovation promises a wave of practical applications—imagine animating historical figures for educational purposes or revitalizing family photos in new and dynamic ways.
However, this technology also opens Pandora's box for hackers and pranksters. With just one image, a person could become the unintentional star of an online video without ever stepping in front of a camera. Now, your awkward driver's license photo could be used to deliver a TED Talk.
Let’s look in to the implications and impact of this technology in detail.
What is Deepfake?
Think of Deepfakes as a high-tech version of a common prank from the past. Some of us may recall a friend who would call us and mimic another friend's voice or a celebrity's, to trick us into doing something funny.
Deepfake technology takes this concept to the next level, allowing someone to create videos or audio clips that look and sound convincingly real, making the prank, or the potential deception, much more impactful and harder to detect.
What is Different Now ?
Traditionally, creating Deepfakes was almost a high-budget production, requiring a large amount of video data to convincingly mimic someone. This steep requirement generally reserved the honor of being Deepfaked for celebrities and public figures.
However, with Microsoft's latest innovation, the cost of entry into the Deepfake club has drastically reduced to just possessing a single image. Yes, that one awkward passport photo in your drawer is now enough to cast you in an unexpected role in a viral video.
It's just a click away
Why People Do Deepfakes ?
Personal Revenge
Creating damaging videos / content to damage someone’s reputation
Financial Gain
Using you video to get access to gain financial benefit from institutions
Entertainment
For amusement
To Spread Misinformation
Political or Personal Agenda
How Can I Be Deepfaked ?
There are many ways to be Deeepfaked, We will list couple of most popular of them here
Attacker creating a video that appears to show an individual engaging in illegal or morally questionable behavior. The attacker then threatens to release the video to the public
In a sophisticated financial scam, Deepfake technology could be used to impersonate an individual’s loved ones in a video, urgently requesting money for an emergency, compelling the victim to act quickly
What is Microsoft doing about it ?
Microsoft has no plans to release it to the general public for now, providing one relief amidst ongoing concerns about potential misuse.
We are going take this moment to thank Microsoft for this, if they hadn't done the research and told us upfront, we wouldn't have even known this is a reality!
So we are gonna go ahead and say “Let's give a round of applause to Microsoft”
How to Protect Yourself from Deepfake Exploitation ?
Verify before you Act or Believe
Always verify the information ( Video/Audio) before acting on it
Educate and Be Aware of “Deep Fakes”
Educate everyone around you, Most importantly our non-tech savvy older generations
Strengthen your online Privacy
Report / Remove Illegal Content
Take Legal Action