"Russia Uses Deepfake of Zelensky to Spread Disinformation"

Meta, the parent company of Facebook, has been forced to remove a deepfake of the Ukrainian President in which he appeared to call on the military to lay down their arms.  Nathaniel Gleicher, head of security policy at Meta, stated that the deepfake video on Facebook was reportedly first on a compromised website before being spread rapidly across the web.  Once the video was discovered on Facebook, personnel then took it down quickly.  It’s been reported that the compromised site in question was Russian language Ukrainian news site Segodnya, with text reporting the same fake news appearing on a news ticker during a live TV broadcast on Ukraine 24.  The incident marks the first time deepfakes have been used to spread uncertainty and disinformation among the populace in a kinetic war.  However, experts have warned that the technology is becoming more accurate and affordable for several years.  Meta announced its plans to ban the AI-powered tech from its platform in early 2020.  According to its policy, videos will be taken down if: "the video is the product of artificial intelligence or machine learning, including deep learning techniques that merges, combines, replaces, and/or superimposes content onto a video, creating a video that appears authentic."  Researchers have stated that up until now, the primary use of deepfake technology by malicious actors has been to fake the audio of business leaders in “whaling” attacks.  Last month the FBI warned that such techniques were being used in combination with video conferencing to trick corporate employees into making wire transfers.

Infosecurity reports: "Russia Uses Deepfake of Zelensky to Spread Disinformation"