Watch: New alert over sharing deep fake content in UAE
Cyber Security Council warns users at risk of fraud, privacy breach, damage to reputation
Abu Dhabi: The UAE Cyber Security Council has warned against sharing “deep fake” content, which could lead to fraud, privacy violations, reputation damage, spread of misinformation and other risks.
Deep fake videos, photos and audio are created by using artificial intelligence (AI) to make viewers believe they are looking at a real person or scene, when in fact the content is fake and only appears to take the form of the original.
The Council recently posted an awareness video on its social media platforms to warn users about deep fakes, which could expose them to fraud or legal action, especially if they share such content with others.
The video also shared tips on how to spot deep fakes, such as:
• searching for any visual distortions
• checking the sound quality or any irregularities
• noticing the lack of consistency in the background
• verifying the source.
The Council stressed the importance of avoiding the spread of fake news by verifying information before publishing it, respecting the privacy of others, not sharing personal data without permission, and respecting the rights of content owners.
Deep fake videos are created in one of two ways. They can use an original video source of the target, where the person is made to say and do things they never did; or they can swap the person’s face onto a video of another individual, also known as a face swap.
Closing security gaps
The authority also warned that unsecured file transfers could expose data to risk through device theft, phishing attacks, and insider threats.
It called for ensuring the use of reliable means equipped with encryption and multi-factor authentication technologies, and avoiding unauthorised means that lack encryption, as they expose data to the risk of hacking, and staying informed and constantly updating information about secure file transfer options to maintain data integrity and security.
The Council pointed out that mobile devices may not be secure enough, so files should be transferred securely via encrypted transfer services, security protocols should be verified, personal files should be kept with strong passwords and encrypted before sending, public Wi-Fi should be avoided when using messaging apps, cloud file sharing platforms should be chosen, and the service should use end-to-end encryption and multi-factor authentication.