Recent incidents of fraud involving deepfake technology have prompted a warning from Changpeng Zhao, the former CEO of Binance.
Fujimoto’s Incident
Mai Fujimoto, a prominent crypto influencer from Japan, reported that her account was hacked during a Zoom call using deepfake technology. The call featured a deepfake of someone she knew after hackers had taken control of the person’s Telegram account. During the call, Fujimoto encountered a sound issue, which led her to click an update link, allowing the attackers to install malware on her computer. As a result, her X, Telegram, and MetaMask accounts were compromised.
BlueNoroff’s Tactics
Fujimoto’s experience is not isolated. The hacker group BlueNoroff, linked to North Korea, employed similar tactics by targeting an employee of a cryptocurrency foundation. The victim participated in Zoom meetings for weeks, viewing AI-generated deepfake videos of their company’s executives. During one session, when experiencing a microphone issue, the individual was prompted to download a malicious plugin allegedly to fix the problem, which led to the installation of spyware including a keylogger and cryptocurrency information-stealing software.
Lessons and Warnings
With the increasing sophistication of these threats, workers in the crypto and remote sectors are particularly at risk. Zhao emphasized that the realism of deepfake technology may soon render traditional security measures, such as video verifications, ineffective. He cautioned his followers to never download software from unofficial sources.
Incidents involving deepfakes highlight the need for increased awareness and security measures among users of digital technologies.
