Page 251 - Cyber Defense eMagazine RSAC Special Edition 2025

The Rising Deepfake Risk for Businesses: A

Step-By-Step Defense Strategy Built Around

the Basics of Security

By Matthew Martin, CEO, Two Candlesticks

Deepfakes are the exciting new thing in cyber security, but at their core they are not a new threat – social
engineering has been around since the beginning. Advancements in artificial intelligence (AI) are taking
social engineering attacks on organizations to a whole new level though, showing up in new ways. As AI
models become faster and more sophisticated, deepfakes become more automated and convincing. This
enables threat actors to be much more efficient and effective, ramping up the risk to organization’s critical
data and infrastructure.

It's clear to see that deepfakes are an increasing threat to organizations, with 1 in 4 companies
experiencing deepfake fraud in the last 12 months, according to Deloitte. These attacks are generated
using AI and machine-learning (ML) algorithms, arming threat actors with the tools to create highly
convincing, yet completely fake digital content.

While this is nothing new, the ease of execution has made deepfakes an even bigger threat – modern AI
advancements mean threat actors can now swiftly bypass verification processes or trick employees into
sharing sensitive information. In turn, this allows threat actors to cast their nets wider. While larger, highly
profitable organizations were once the top target for deepfake attacks, threat actors are now setting their
sights on smaller businesses.

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