David Elliott
Early in 2024, an employee of UK engineering firm Arup made a seemingly routine transfer of millions of company dollars, following a video call with senior management.
Except, it turned out, the employee hadn’t been talking to Arup managers at all, but to deepfakes created by artificial intelligence. The employee had been tricked into sending $25 million to criminals.
This wasn't a traditional cyberattack, the kind that compromises a company’s digital systems. This attack used psychology and sophisticated deepfake technology to gain the employee’s confidence.
It's an example of how cybercrime is evolving. At the time, Arup’s Chief Information Officer, Rob Greig, said the company had seen the number of cyberattacks rise sharply, along with their sophistication.
This trend is underscored in a World Economic Forum report titled Unpacking Cyber Resilience, which aims to help companies become more cyber resilient.
Here, Greig – who was previously director of the UK’s Parliamentary Digital Service – talks about what the company learned from its deepfake attack, and what organizations can do to protect themselves.
No comments:
Post a Comment