Deepfakes Threat: As cybercrime skyrockets, govt warns banks and fintechs about new AI risks

The Indian government warns banks and fintech companies about the rising deepfakes threat in the coming months and wants them to strengthen security against cybercrime.

As deepfakes threat rises, govt warns banks and fintech institutions. (Pixabay)

Recently, the finance and banking sectors have been exploring the benefits of artificial intelligence to improve their services, however, the same technology is hovering over them like a dark cloud. The threat of deepfakes is not only limited to cloning people's faces and creating fake photos and videos, but now it is being used to steal people's identity. With the help of deepfakes, tricksters are cloning people's voices to manipulate their friends and family members into emptying their bank accounts or revealing vulnerable information. The Indian government has now warned banks and fintech companies about the rising deepfakes threat in the coming months and wants them to strengthen security against cybercrime.

To understand the deepfakes threat, one must know what it is. These are artificial intelligence-generated videos, images, and audio that are edited or manipulated to clone a person's identity, including voice.

Government concerns over deepfake risks on banks and fintech companies

According to a TOI report, the Finance Ministry has urged banks and fintech companies to prepare themselves for the rising deepfakes threat while conducting a stress test. Financial Service Secretary Vivek Joshi emphasised the emerging risks of cloning voices and personalities over deepfakes. Joshi said, “The government has taken critical steps to ensure that robust cybersecurity systems are put in place. Banks need to move a notch up and include stress testing of cyber risk assessment to gauge the impact if any cyberattack happens.”

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Additionally, Joshi added that banks and financial institutions must work on building advanced cybersecurity tools and technology to safeguard critical and vulnerable information about organizations as well as their customers to avoid any mishappening. Such crucial measures have already been taken place in places like Europe and Singapore. Additionally, he also talked about the growing economy of India and how it should remain stagnant in the year 2024.

Deepfakes have been a constant threat to safeguard individuals from becoming victims of cyber crime due to advanced technology and smart tricks used by criminals to manipulate people. Cybersecurity systems should be able to analyze and detect potential risks before they take place through any unusual activity in the account.