What are deepfakes and how to spot them

Deepfakes are a form of artificial intelligence (AI) in their compilation of doctored images and sounds that are put together with machine-learning algorithms. Deepfake technology can make it challenging to determine whether the news that is seen and heard on the internet is real.

In our web-centric society, these AI forgeries have become a cybersecurity concern on individual, corporate, national, and international levels.

What is a deepfake?

The term deep fake melds two words: deep and fake. Deepfake meaning combines the concept of machine or deep learning with something that is not real. 

Specifically, deepfakes are AI images and sounds put together with machine-learning algorithms. The technology can manipulate media and replace a real person’s image, voice, or both with similar artificial likenesses and voices. It essentially creates people that don’t exist, or can falsely impersonate people, making it appear that real people are saying and doing things that they did not in fact say or do.

As a result, deepfake technology is now being used for nefarious purposes, including:

• Phishing and other scams
• Identity theft
• Financial fraud
• Hoaxes
• Celebrity pornography
• Reputation smearing
• Election manipulation
• Social engineering
• Automated disinformation attacks
• Blackmail
  

Among the possible risks, deepfakes can threaten cybersecurity, political elections, individual and corporate finances, reputations, and more. This misuse can play out in scams against individuals and companies, including on social media. With your Norton 360 subscription we monitor the personal information you provide and alert you of any suspicious activity. This can help defend you against common deepfake scams like phishing and identity theft. 

Corporate scams

Companies are especially concerned about scams that rely on deepfake technology, including these: 

• Supercharging scams where deepfake audio is used to pretend that the person on the other line is a higher-up, such as a CEO asking an employee to send money.
• Extortion-based scams where attackers threaten to release fake but incriminating videos if they aren’t paid.
• Identity theft where deepfake technology is used to commit crimes like financial fraud.

Social media manipulation

Social media posts supported by convincing manipulations have the potential to misguide and inflame the internet-connected public. Deepfakes provide the media that help fake news appear real.

Deepfakes are often used on social media platforms to produce strong reactions.  Consider a Twitter profile that’s volatile, taking aim at all things political and making outrageous comments to create controversy. Is the profile connected to a real person?

Maybe not. The profile picture you see on that Twitter account could have been created from scratch. It may not belong to a real person. Another use of deepfakes has been to create fake profile pictures for so-called sockpuppet accounts.

Even though social media platforms like Twitter and Facebook have banned the use of these types of deepfakes, it’s still a good idea to be wary about what you see and hear via social media. 

How to spot a deepfake

Is it possible to spot a deepfake video? Poorly made deepfake videos may be easy to identify but spotting higher-quality deepfakes can be challenging. 

Here are things to look for when determining if a video is real or fake:

1. Unnatural eye movement. Eye movements that do not look natural—or a lack of eye movement, such as an absence of blinking—are huge red flags. 
2. Unnatural facial expressions. When something doesn’t look right about a face, it could signal facial morphing. 
3. Awkward facial-feature positioning. 
4. A lack of emotion. 
5. Awkward-looking body or posture. 
6. Unnatural body movement or body shape. 
7. Unnatural coloring. Abnormal skin tone, discoloration, weird lighting, and misplaced shadows are all signs that what you’re seeing is likely fake.
8. Hair that doesn’t look real. 
9. Teeth that don’t look real. 
10. Blurring or misalignment. 
11. Inconsistent noise or audio.
12. Images that look unnatural when slowed down. 
13. Hashtag discrepancies. There’s a cryptographic algorithm that helps video creators show that their videos are authentic. The algorithm is used to insert hashtags at certain places throughout a video. If the hashtags change, then you should suspect video manipulation.
14. Digital fingerprints. Blockchain technology can also create a digital fingerprint for videos. While not foolproof, this blockchain-based verification can help establish a video’s authenticity.
15. Reverse image searches. A search for an original image, or a reverse image search with the help of a computer, can unearth similar videos online to help determine if an image, audio, or video has been altered in any way. 

Deepfakes in politics

Deepfakes can present divisive problems in the political arena, having great potential to undermine political systems. Do you remember the 2018 video of former U.S. President Barack Obama talking about deepfakes? That was a deepfake video. It wasn’t really Obama, but it looked and sounded like him enough to fool people.

Deepfake political videos have become so prevalent and damaging that the state of California, for example, has outlawed them during election seasons. The goal is to keep deepfakes from deceptively swaying voters.

The online harms resulting from deepfakes are also on the U.S. Federal Trade Commission's radar. In fact, the FTC is considering the issuance of a report to Congress  that explores using AI to combat online harms like deepfakes.

What are shallowfakes?

Shallowfakes are another way to spread misinformation, particularly in politics. They’re made by freezing frames and slowing down video with simple video-editing software. They don’t rely on algorithms or deep-learning systems.

What can you do about deepfakes?

While the battle between the creators of detection algorithms and deepfakes goes back and forth, it’s a good idea to know how to spot deepfakes and take steps not to be fooled. If you’re watching a video online, be sure it’s from a reputable source before believing its claims and sharing it with others.

When you get a call from someone—your boss, for instance—make sure the person on the other end is really your boss before acting on their request.

Most importantly, do not believe everything you see and hear on the web. In addition, don’t forward any suspect media to your friends and family, helping expand its reach.  That’s exactly what deepfake creators want you to do. If media strikes you as unbelievable, it’s quite possible that it is.