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a robot-computer with his eyes like projectors, the robot looks like a huge computer with 'on' button and calculations, a scientist stands by the robot

Quantum computing: Is it time for your business to get involved?

  • min read
    • In Douglas Adams' 1979 science fiction comedy novel The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, a supercomputer called Deep Thought takes 7.5 million years to answer the question, "What is the meaning of life?" Unlike Adams' monolithic supercomputer, quantum computers will be like today's fiber broadband compared to 1990s dial-up internet. Google's quantum computer can perform a calculation 158 million times faster than classical computers. Quantum computing's sped-up computations could reshape nearly every industry. But it also has strange quirks that make it hard to use in ways that beat classical computer abilities. At least, that's how things are today. Businesses that value innovation are throwing their hat in the quantum ring to ensure they're ready for sweeping change. Should your business get involved – and if so, how? In Insight Story Season 2 Episode 3, I discuss quantum computing's relevance to business with Dr. Oliver Thomson Brown (UK,) Chancellor's Fellow at EPCC (formerly Edinburgh Parallel Computing Centre,) University of Edinburgh and Dr. Henning Soller (Germany,) Partner and Director of Quantum Research, McKinsey & Company. What is quantum computing? Quantum computers are the next step up from the powerful supercomputers that often power AI applications today. They'll be part of our computing future but have a starting role today. Quantum and classical computers are very different beasts – in fact, they can't even communicate with one another. Quantum data is different, too – for example, you can't copy it. Some quantum computers must be kept at very low temperatures in purpose-built fridges. These features may not sound encouraging, but quantum computers have potential to do some things much better and faster. These abilities could be game-changing in many sectors, including finance, chemicals and logistics. How could business use quantum computing? Despite quantum computers currently being about as sophisticated as the classical computers of the mid-20th century, business is interested. Henning advises companies throughout Europe and the Middle East on large-scale IT and data transformations. He's confident quantum's impact will be huge. "We haven't yet proven a case where quantum computers outperform classical computers, but we're certain this technology will be the major disruption for the business in the coming decade. We estimate economic potential of at least several trillion US dollars." Oliver's research focuses on the interaction of quantum and high-performance computing. He says quantum could help with problems where the solution is a sequence of binary numbers. "That might include logistical problems around deciding where things go. For example, how do you fill beds in a hospital ward? Or flow- or network-type problems, like traffic management. Quantum computers may also have advantages when finding the best configuration for a molecule, like in drug discovery." Quantum might also work well for problems that scale poorly on classical computers. "We're looking at problems in aviation and genomics. Genome assembly scales factorially – with a quantum computer, we may be able to reduce that by a lot." Henning adds, "We could use it for experiments that we need humans or animals for today. We could test chemicals much faster and transact money in different but completely secure ways. Some banks are using it for derivative pricing and Monte Carlo simulations." It's something of a hammer looking for a nail, he says. "It's not about having an advantage today, but being able to exploit the advantage tomorrow." Quantum challenges Oliver says, "Adoption will be driven by how easy they are to use." But today, quantum computers aren't easy to use. "You have qubits, and multiple qubits form a register. Then you set up quantum gates in a circuit that apply to that qubit register and transform it – hopefully – into a state representing the solution to your problem." If you didn't understand that, don't worry – classical computers don't get it either. That's one of the biggest challenges that must be overcome for quantum to go mainstream, says Oliver. "You have results stored as quantum information on qubits in your qubit register, but you can't read that out directly into a classical computer. So what do you do with it?" And that's not all. "You can't copy quantum information. That's great for security but terrible for computing," says Oliver. With technology this imperfect – and let's face it, confusing to anyone without a computer science PhD – the business benefits are less obvious. Henning suggests looking at the bigger picture. "There is value in investing in quantum computing already, but not in profit and loss terms." Is quantum a security threat? A 2022 study claimed that it will soon be possible to crack the most established crypto algorithm by combining classical and quantum computing. It comes down to the role giant prime numbers play in encryption. Oliver says, "The first big quantum computing application was for factoring large prime numbers. It has no practical use except that we use large prime numbers for encryption. But security people now know it's not a good base for security, and they're looking at alternatives. It must be something quantum computers are bad at." Dr. Amin Hasbini, Head of Research Centre Middle East, Turkey and Africa for Kaspersky's Global Research and Analysis Team agrees the cybersecurity industry is one step ahead. "Quantum computing will also make encrypted data harder to hack, but hackers will find ways to adapt as they always have." Henning sees the need for improved encryption as a quantum business opportunity. "Quantum cryptography is a whole new industry. It's a major area of active investment." He doesn't see hackers accessing quantum tech just yet. "This is elaborate technology – not something you can steal and easily operate." Oliver thinks one quantum quirk might foil decryption attempts. "The error rate for quantum computers is huge compared to classical computers. You're likely to hit an error with any big circuit. You'd need a very large quantum computer, and we're nowhere near that." What will quantum computing's future look like? What are the next steps to unlocking the potential of quantum computing? Henning says, "The first machines will be hybrid by design because programming them will require a classical computer. Several technologies will need to come together to operate them successfully. They must intelligently break down a problem into what suits each technology and then put the overall result together." He suggests business leaders embrace the future. "This revolution is coming – not tomorrow, but in a foreseeable timeframe. It may make sense to set up a smaller team to scout the technology and identify use cases. Look for opportunities to partner with quantum startups. Your business can bring the knowledge of problems that need solving." Oliver agrees it's not about having all the expertise in-house. "Build partnerships with specialists who understand how to get the most of it." Quantum computers can't do much today, but their potential is undeniable. Businesses exploring this new realm are investing in a reputation for innovation and the possibility of solving today's hard problems. Difficulty accessing and using the technology should keep hackers at bay for now, but cyber researchers are working on new encryption methods that quantum computers can't crack.
Robot fires lasers at a computer network, obliterating it while another robot watches

Predictions for Earth 2050: How will cybersecurity change?

  • min read
    • If you're like me, having a long-term vision is a wonderful aspiration… frequently quashed by today's more screamingly imminent 'to do' list. Five-year plan?  I'm still working on the next five days. But the next five minutes? That's a no-brainer: let's get immersed in the futuristic predictions for the world in 2050, and the evolving role of cybersecurity in it. Cyber-immunity will intuitively protect our systems Predicted by: Eugene Kaspersky, CEO, Kaspersky In 2050, digital systems have moved up to a whole new level. They're no longer assistants making life easier for us mere mortals, they've become the basis of civilization – the very framework keeping the world functioning properly. This quantum leap forward has generated new requirements for the reliability and stability of artificial intelligence (AI). Since the romantic era around the turn of the 21st century, cyberattacks are not yet extinct, but they're now only a threat to outliers who reject modern standards of digital immunity. One of the pillars of cyber-immunity is digital intuition, the ability of AI systems to make the right decisions in conditions where the source data is insufficient to make a rational choice. There's no mysticism here: digital intuition is the logical continuation of machine learning. When the number and complexity of related self-learning systems exceeds a certain threshold, the quality of decision-making rises to a level that eludes rational understanding. An intuitive solution results from the superimposition of the experience of a huge number of machine-learning models, much like the result of the calculations of a quantum computer. Digital intuition – with its ability to instantly, and correctly, respond to unknown challenges –has helped build the digital security standards of this new technological era. The robot servants are uprising Predicted by: Vitaly Kamluk, Director, Global Research & Analysis Team, Kaspersky Busy workers rejoice! Help for your home is arriving. A robot servant will cook your meals, do your laundry and clean your apartment. These autonomous systems will be able to carry out many complex tasks using the processing power of a central intelligent system, and in tricky situations, they'll switch to remote technical support managed by real people. There will be mass attempts to hack these helpful robots by labor rights activists and criminals trying to blackmail their owners. Since the servants will all be equipped with cameras, microphones and sensors, they offer a unique viewing platform for home-based espionage. Expect compromises of the manufacturers' infrastructure and the implantation of malicious code in devices with the aim of enacting, en masse, attacks that could be serious. The man(less) mining machine Predicted by: Andrey Nikishin, formerly Future Technologies Project Director, Kaspersky Mining is a fully automated process; people are not needed and former miners regain their health. One robot extracts rock from the soil, the second cleans it, the third guards the perimeter, while the fourth delivers the purified ore to industrial consumers. A hacker who gains access to the system can re-program individual robots so they take a small amount of the platinum ore to an unauthorized place. The guard robots are also hacked, so they're unaware of this theft. The big reveal of dynamic clothes Predicted by Vladislav Biryukov, Head of Consumer Social Media, Kaspersky Dynamic clothing is à la mode. The fabric's characteristics – color, pattern, lighting, transparency, and in advanced models, even the cut and length – can be automatically changed. Some people now wear shirts or dresses with variable transparency levels, which allows them to reveal more at any moment they choose. Few people 'program' their clothes by themselves; most enjoy free fashion patterns or, for the fashionistas, expensive programs from well-known designers. Initially lacking security, the process of getting a smart clothing upgrade has led to the emergence of a new kind of extortion. "Heading to a business meeting, sir? Transfer 10 bitcoins to this account number now, or we'll expose you!". The naked truth in the boardroom. Awkward. Not quite the transparency in business we were hoping to achieve in 2050. A quantum (computing) leap threatens cryptography Predicted by Alexey Malanov Cryptography is widely used in many spheres of online activity. It's no exaggeration to say that the world will experience a huge shock if suddenly everything that's encrypted today is unlocked. How cryptography works: some operations can be easily carried out in one direction, but they're very difficult to reverse. For example, an image can be quickly transformed into a picture puzzle, but to arrange all of the pieces back into the picture takes much longer. Modern public-key cryptography is based on this principle: I know two numbers, I have multiplied them and told everyone the answer. Now everyone can encrypt a message for me using the result of the multiplication, but only I can decipher this using the original multipliers. There are already quantum computers that allow you to quickly solve problems that seem to be circuit-breaking for conventional computers, like how to de-compose a composite number. The only obstacle to the end of the digital world – let's call it 'cryptocalypse' – is that quantum computers can only work with small numbers. But by 2050, quantum computing will allow security services or master criminals to access universal decryption, and they may choose to do bad things with it. For example, if a villain steals your credit card, he or she will immediately know your PIN. The ability to decipher brings with it the opportunity to forge: an ATM informs the bank one thousand dollars are withdrawn, but the villain falsifies the message to say only 10 dollars were taken out. We will need to develop new safety standards – fast. On the bright side, encryption helps with verification so you can be sure you're actually on your real bank's website, not a cleverly cloned fake, when you wire the ransom to keep your business suit from turning into your birthday suit. Phew! One challenge solved.
earth2050 robot, Illustration of intelligent robot protesting for robots' rights

What will the future of work be like by 2050?

  • min read
    • The world of work in 2050. If you're unlucky enough not to have retired by then, the working world will be a very different place to how it is today. The vision of the future for workers tends to scale from a nilistic view of the robots taking our jobs (leaving us permanently trapped indoors, living entirely from Amazon Prime supplies), through to the utopia of the eradication of repetitive tasks using artifical intelligence. This will leave humans free to think, create and act (while never needing to leave their home…thanks to improved remote work options and those highly convenient Amazon delivery drones). But what do the experts think it will really be like? Robots have rights too Predicted by: Ian Pearson. Ian has been a full-time futurologist for over 25 years, tracking and predicting developments across a wide range of technology, business, society, politics and the environment. We see a picket line of robots in the city center. Their placards are plastered with slogans written in binary code. The widespread development of robots and artificial intelligence have necessitated the creation of a legal framework to protect them to regulate the rights of intelligent robots. Subsequently, this code is constantly updated and improved so robots have improving rights in our society. Personal assistants for life Predicted by: Alexey Malanov Personal assistants (PAs) have rapidly developed throughout the 21st century. To begin with, they could only answer primitive questions: in 2019, voice assistants were as dumb as a box of rocks. But by 2025, they'd mastered the art of recognizing and transcribing speech (with punctuation marks too); they could understand the meaning of a text and recite it so realistically that it was almost indistinguishable from a human. This led to half of all office activities being automated: PAs began to take minutes, write post-meeting reports, summarize lengthy documents, and consciously digest and recapitulate the contents of messages. They also plan your day, schedule meetings and even order lunch. Thanks to machine learning, PAs are fully adapted to their owners' personalities, increasingly penetrating every aspect of their lives. It all began with assisting with office work, and by the mid-2040s, PAs had become an integral part of everyday life by monitoring their owners' diets, planning trips abroad, buying gifts for friends and family, and more. But it's not as rosy as it seems: the human-PA relationship has spawned a plethora of psychological issues and communication difficulties between real people. However, a specially trained AI psychologist is on hand to help us cope. Paradoxically, it's just another voice assistant. The power is in your hands Predicted by: Mersey Shelley is a pseudonym of Alexey Andreyev, writer and futurologist, who works for Kaspersky. This prediction is from his cyberpunk novel '2048' published in 2004. In decades past, palms and fingers were scanned for identification. Now, hands with implanted sensors become the scanners themselves. These implants come in different models with two main variations: first, a simple scanner for daily use. It helps to read different tags and product codes, and to exchange digital business cards via the handshake ritual (you can use face recognition to identify a stranger but this is considered indecent; besides, many people use protection to prevent recognition. Hats with special veils are popular). Second, sophisticated scanners for technicians and other professionals. For example, a doctor's hand includes various medical sensors for diagnostics – even a portable endoscope with a direct video stream to the doctor's visual cortex. A flexible workforce Predicted by Jacob Morgan is a best-selling author, speaker, futurist and founder of Future of Work University. In the year 2050, technology will dominate the workplace with artificial intelligence and smart assistants being commonplace, while the use of augmented and virtual reality continues to increase. Everything will be 'smart' – connected and data-driven. The vast majority of us will continue working the same way we are today, but the jobs on offer will be ones that haven't yet been invented. Emotional intelligence and 'human' skills such as perpetual learning will be crucial for leaders to possess, as well as fluency with the latest technologies. Work will increasingly become more fluid as some employees will be virtual, some will be full-time, some will be bots, and we will all be working non-fixed hours. As with any kind of change, there will be pros and cons. Those who work in routine jobs are likely to struggle to make sure they can stay relevant in the new world of work. The advantage is that this will give us more time to focus on the human aspects of work such as building relationships, being creative, deep thinking, and practicing skills like empathy and self-awareness. Technology will help us make organizations more personable. This also means that we need to get more comfortable with using technology such as bots and AI in our work, a cause of tension and fear for some. And what about working hours? It depends if you're a knowledge worker or working in industries like retail. Flexible work arrangements are already being implemented at organizations around the world. The advantages are far-ranging, from improving employee satisfaction, productivity and tenure, to being able to attract and retain top talent. The potential disadvantages here are making sure that employees can stay accountable for delivering high-quality work while feeling like they're a part of the team, dealing with isolation, and ensuring effective communication and collaboration. I think the pros outstrip the cons: when managed effectively, flexible work arrangements can be a huge benefit to the organization and its people. Focus on the user experience Predicted by: Edney Souza, digital culture and business and technology teacher, speaker and entrepreneur, Brazil. For sure, work will become more fun and those repetitive activities in our day-to-day life will be done by robots and artificial intelligence. Knowing programming logic will be as important as English and mathematics. User experience design (UX) will be more important than other technical components of a project to ensure its success with customers. Skills in solving problems and serving customers will continue to be competitive advantages for the work of the future. Read more predictions about our technological future from scientists, futurologists and cybersecurity experts at Earth 2050 by Kaspersky.
Futuristic-looking car drives along while broadcasting much data into the world

This will defend your automotive business against next-gen cyberattacks

  • min read
    • Cars are more connected than ever before: Onboard music streaming, GPS maps beamed to vehicles via the internet of things (IoT) – they're computers on wheels becoming more digitized. Traditional automotive manufacturers are transforming their business models to reflect this, with technologies like in-vehicle online marketplaces. As the automotive industry evolves towards fully autonomous vehicles, security becomes harder to control. But security must be active throughout the car's lifecycle. Make no mistake, security breaches can be fatal and costly. If you're manufacturing vehicles with connected capacity, a Vehicle Security Operations Center (VSOC) can increase protection for your business, fleet and customers against cyberattacks. First, let's explore the changing landscape and its risks. Connected cars are easy targets for remote hackers and terrorists Operating systems in connected vehicles aren't just a personal data goldmine – with audio files recorded by in-car microphones to stored bank details and even Netflix and Spotify credentials leaked on eBay – but they can also control vehicle movement. If a hacker remotely hijacks the operating system of one of your vehicles or even your whole fleet, the consequences could be devastating. Whether it's taking control of a Tesla's brakes, door locks and other electronics, or exposing personal data like Mercedes-Benz – hackers do and will find vulnerabilities in connected vehicles. But why? Terrorists looking to cause fatal chaos. Hackers out for financial gain (they may shut the engine down and demand payment to start it again.) Even mercenaries spying on executives – think how valuable audio files of confidential merger plans would be to rivals. What is a Vehicle Security Operations Center? A Security Operations Center (SOC) is a team that deals with security issues at an organizational or technical level. In most cases, the team uses a platform dedicated to constant monitoring of the organization's IT infrastructure. A Vehicle Security Operations Center (VSOC) is the same, but as well as protecting computers and servers, it also protects assets like connected vehicle cloud and fleet management system (which send and receive messages to and from vehicle's telematics control unit) and the vehicles themselves, mobility servers (phones connected to vehicles) and vehicle internal components like sensors and radars. Two audiences need VSOCs: Automotive manufacturers (like Mercedes or Tesla) and large fleet owners (like logistics companies or taxi firms.) It minimizes the risks of cyberattacks and, in the event of a breach, triages and treats the cyber-wound. It can also give unwavering diagnostics of your entire fleet (great for ongoing and predictive maintenance) and a wealth of information on how your cars are used, like time and distance traveled, Wi-Fi strength or errors in the engine performance. Perfect for R&D for new models. But how do you implement a VSOC? VSOC: To in-house or outsource? There are two ways to create your VSOC: In-house or outsource. In-house means integrating the unit into your current operations, either within your cybersecurity operations, quality assurance or the vehicle software R&D team. On the other hand, you could outsource part or all of the VSOC to a third-party provider. In some instances, this may be helpful to start with, as you may not yet have the cybersecurity infrastructure and expertise. A full VSOC may be out of scope for a small fleet owner, but if you run a large fleet or you're an automotive manufacturer, in the long term, it will be most beneficial to your business to establish your VSOC internally. How to launch your VSOC Here are some tips to get started: Create a playbook Security experts should create incident response playbooks (guidelines) to show how you would respond to specific cyber-threats and how to manage incident communications. Expand your team's knowledge Many cybersecurity teams focus on server infrastructure, not connected vehicles. Implement advanced cybersecurity training to develop the skills of your current team. For example, Kaspersky Cybersecurity Training covers malware analysis, digital forensics and incident response to help a specialist enterprise-level team better face these threats. Funnel issues straight to your VSOC Establish a system to escalate vehicle monitoring and diagnostics when needed, so in the event of a breach, it's sent straight to the cybersecurity teams. Regular security assessments Periodically conduct security assessments of your connected car's infrastructure, both the separate modules (like TCU and mobile apps) and also test how the complete system works together. Share these results with your VSOC team. Maximize data capture Investing in onboard vehicle software, like intrusion detection systems, will feed your VSOC with vital information to detect anomalies and other signs that could lead to data breaches. Enrich your VSOC with threat data feeds from at least two security vendors. There are public feeds available, but licensed feeds are typically better quality. Use white-hat hackers Make use of the global community of white-hat hackers. These are friendly hackers, trained professionals who find vulnerabilities and make sure your systems are bulletproof. And if they're not, they'll give you the diagnosis to fix them. You could also join the likes of BMW and Tesla and launch a Bug Bounty program, which pays people (professional and amateur) for any bugs they find. Work towards the latest regulatory standards Future proof to upcoming vehicle regulation laws like Transport UNECE WP.29, and ISO/SAE 21434. As connected cars and autonomous vehicles speed towards making our roads safer and giving people a more comfortable driving experience, automotive businesses must ensure they're doing everything they can to protect their products from cyberattacks. A VSOC minimizes the chances of a cybersecurity breach in your plant, on the road and for your customers, so you can focus on building the future of transport.
Human paints AI with human features, while AI paints human with machine features

Reaching the technological singularity: What will happen when machines become smarter than us?

  • min read
    • Picture a world where machines have long since passed the Turing Test. When people can't tell the difference between artificial and human intelligence. In this world, will humans become obsolete, like the floppy disk? Or is it a world where artificial and human intelligence merge to usher in the next step of our evolution? That's the technological singularity, the theoretical time in the future where technological development outpaces our abilities to maintain control over it. For better or worse, it's undoubtedly something that will result in never seen changes to our world. When will we reach technological singularity? Join any discussion about business technology, and it won't be long before someone mentions artificial intelligence (AI). The amount of digital data in the world has already surpassed our abilities to manage it, a development, which has made clear the need for algorithms to do the job for us. But algorithms and AI aren't the same things. They're not even close. An algorithm is a computer program that parses data from sets too large for human interpretation, whereas true AI is capable of thinking for itself, making its own decisions, and having free will. True artificial intelligence doesn't exist. Yet. The explosion of AI has long been a popular trope of science fiction, but the reality is edging ever closer. Ray Kurzweil, world-renowned futurist and Google's Director of Engineering, believes technological singularity is going to happen before 2045. Take note: so far, an impressive 86 percent of his predictions made since the '90s have become a reality. But even if that sounds optimistic (or pessimistic, depending on how you look at it), it's the logical next step in the evolution of technology. Once computers can learn for themselves without being taught and trained with data that we've collected, we can expect profound society changes on a scale never before seen. How can we keep up with technology? The emergence of an artificial superintelligence would bring us greater inventive and problem-solving skills than humans are capable of. This might lead to the creation of a new 'species,' one which might not necessarily have human interests at its heart. But so far, we're nowhere near developing machines with human-level intelligence and the ability to make decisions independently. Now we can enhance human intelligence and capabilities with tools and technology. Indeed, that's precisely what we've been doing for hundreds of thousands of years, ever since our ancestors figured out how to light fires. But today, the stakes are much higher with projects like brain-to-computer interfaces as active areas of research. This may, in turn, lead to radical developments like mind uploading, in which you entire consciousness can be uploaded to and stored on a machine. At least, it could be useful for those millennia-long interstellar voyages. Such developments might sound dystopian since they have the potential to transform what it means to be human ultimately. At the same time, the convergence of technology and humanity, an area of study known as transhumanism, appears to be the only way we can keep up with the constant pace of change. It's either that or the machines eventually outpace our natural evolution and take over. The survival instinct If we can't keep up, and technological evolution ends up outpacing our capability of keeping control over it, then we could face profound risks to security. Each of the seven characteristics that define every biological organism comes together to form a singular goal – survival. Technological singularity occurs when AI matches our desire and capability to survive as a species, and there's little reason to think that AI would have any evolutionary motivation to be friendly to humans. Today, machines are programmed by us to create the outcomes we want. But what happens when they're capable of programming themselves? Time for Humanity 2.0? Imagine you're an expert on machine learning, working on an artificial intelligence algorithm that will be able to create other AIs by itself. Are you merely training your replacement, or have you become an architect of your obsolescence? Welcome to Humanity 2.0, where the human condition is no longer about our biological form. It's a time when machines become an integral part not just of our societies, but also ourselves. Conversely, this could also lead to newer and deeper social class divisions than we've ever seen, as people are separated into those who are augmented by technology and those who are not. There's a safety benefit of not being physically augmented by technology – no one will be able to hack into your mind. How humans could remain our biggest threat Perhaps it isn't machines that we should be worrying about at all. Assuming we'll always be able to control artificial intelligence, we could end up transforming it into a deadly weapon. It's already happening. The proliferation of social media, for example, is one of the most significant security and privacy concerns this century. That's not so much down to vulnerabilities in the technology, but because it's a highly effective medium for conducting social engineering attacks. Coupled with the rise of AI, cybercriminals will be better equipped to analyze social media conversations to emulate users' writing styles and craft more convincing messages to their victims. Even before we reach the era of true AI, the ability of algorithms to parse enormous amounts of data is already misused. On the one hand, algorithms can perform many useful tasks to improve our world, such as climate modeling and disaster prediction, while things like neural interfaces can help victims of spinal cord injuries. On the other, the ability of humans to interfere with information systems makes them a more significant threat than the technology itself. Perhaps it would be better if we just let the machines take over in the hope they'd nurture us like the irresponsible children we are. To fear or not to fear Ray Kurzweil has a more positive outlook than most about the singularity. He claims it's an opportunity for humankind to improve by making us smarter and better at all the things we value. Other science and technology leaders, including Elon Musk, Bill Gates and the late Stephen Hawking, are not so sure. But one thing's for sure – there will come a time when our augmented descendants look back on us as rather quaint and exotic creatures. While we're still decades away from the singularity, it presents itself as the next big step in the evolution of technology. Emerging tech, like autonomous vehicles and facial recognition, are already paving the way. True artificial intelligence is coming sooner or later, which is why it's time for the business world to start taking AI ethics and security issues seriously. It's no longer the concern of generations far in the future. This article reflects the opinion of its author.
Small man wearing clothes associated with crime climbs into a trapdoor in another man's head

What does the rise of deepfakes mean for the future of cybersecurity?

  • min read
    • Imagine you're holding a video conference with a colleague or business partner in another city. You're discussing sensitive matters, like the launch of a new product or the latest unpublished financial reports. Everything seems to be going well, and you know who you're talking to. Maybe you've even met them before. Their appearance and voice are as you expected, and they seem to be pretty familiar with their jobs and your business. It might sound like a routine business call, but what if the person you thought you were talking to is actually someone else? They might seem genuine, but behind the familiar imagery and audio is a social engineering scammer fully intent on duping you into surrendering sensitive corporate information. In a nutshell, this is the disturbing world of deepfakes, where artificial intelligence is the new weapon of choice in the scammer's arsenal. What exactly are deepfakes? Among the newest words on the technology block, 'deepfake' is a portmanteau of 'deep learning' and 'fake.' The term has been around for two years, when it first appeared on a Reddit community of the same name. The technology uses artificial intelligence to superimpose and combine both real and AI-generated images, videos and audio to make them look almost indistinguishable from the real thing. The apparent authenticity of the results is rapidly reaching disturbing levels. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cQ54GDm1eL0 One of the most famous deepfakes of all was created by actor and comedian Jordan Peele, who made this video of Obama delivering a PSA about fake news. While this one was made for the sake of humor and to raise awareness to this rapidly emerging trend, deepfake technology has, unsurprisingly, been misappropriated since the very beginning. Its implications for credibility and authenticity have placed it squarely in the spotlight. The worrying consequences of deepfakes Wherever there's technology innovation, there's nearly always pornography, so it's little surprise that the first deepfakes to make waves on Reddit were videos which had been manipulated to replace the original actresses' faces with somebody else's – typically a well-known celebrity. Reddit, along with many other networks, has since banned the practice. However, as actress Scarlett Johansson said of deepfake pornography, while celebrities are largely protected by their fame, the trend poses a grave threat to people of lesser prominence. In other words, those who don't take steps to protect their identities could potentially end up facing a reputational meltdown. That brings me to the political consequences of deepfakes. So far, attempts to masquerade as well-known politicians have been carried out largely in the name of research or comedy. But the time is coming when deepfakes could become realistic enough to cause widespread social unrest. No longer will we be able to rely on our eyes and ears for a firsthand account of events. Imagine, for example, seeing a realistic video of a world leader discussing plans to carry out assassinations in rival states. In a world primed for violence, the implications of deepfake technology could have devastating consequences. Purveyors of fake news seeking to make a political impact are just one side of the story. The other is the form of social engineering that business leaders are all too familiar with. As the video conference example illustrates, deepfakes are a new weapon for cybercriminals. The world's first deepfake-based attack against a corporation was reported in August 2019, when a UK energy firm was duped by a person masquerading as the boss of its German parent company. The scammer allegedly used AI to impersonate the accent and voice patterns of the latter's CEO, someone the victim was familiar with, over a phone call. The victim suspected nothing and was duped out of $243,000. These uses of deepfake technology might seem far-fetched, but it's important to remember that social engineering scammers have been impersonating people since long before the rise of digital technologies. Criminals no longer have to go to such lengths as studying targets in great depth and even hiring makeup artists to disguise themselves; they now have emerging technologies on their side, as businesses do for legitimate purposes. Previously, successfully impersonating a VIP was much more difficult. Now, the ability to create deepfake puppets of real people using publicly available photos, video and audio recordings is within everyone's grasp. Can you protect your business from deepfakes? The common misassumption, that synthetic impersonation can never be nearly as convincing as the real thing, is the biggest danger of all. We live in a world where it's getting harder to tell fact from fiction. From the hundreds of millions of fake social media profiles to the worrying spread of fake news and the constant rise of phishing attacks – it's never been more important to think twice about what you see. Perhaps, after all, there is a case for a return of face-to-face meetings behind closed doors when discussing important business matters. Fortunately, there are other ways you can prepare your business for the inevitable rise of deepfakes without placing huge barriers in the way of innovation. To start with, 'seeing is believing' is a concept you'll increasingly want to avoid when it comes to viewing video or listening to audio, including live broadcasts. To untrained eyes, deepfakes are getting harder to tell apart from the real thing, but there are, and likely always will be, some signs due to the fundamental way AI algorithms work. When a deepfake algorithm generates new faces, they are geometrically transformed with rotation, resizing and other distortions. It's a process that inevitably leaves behind some graphical artifacts. While these artifacts will become harder to identify by sight alone, AI itself can also be used as a force for good – it can detect whether a video or stream is authentic or not. The science of defending against deepfakes is a battle of wills: as deepfakes increase in believability, cybersecurity professionals need to invest more in seeking the truth. A team of researchers in China recently published a method for using AI itself to expose deep fakes in real time. Another paper published by the same team figured out a way to proactively protect digital photos and videos from being misappropriated by deepfake algorithms by adding digital noise, invisible to the human eye. As the threat of deepfakes edges ever nearer, we can hopefully expect more countermeasures to follow suit. This article represents the personal opinion of the author.
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