In July, a significant incident involved deepfake messages impersonating Secretary of State Marco Rubio, raising concerns about digital deception. This incident is part of a growing trend, as numerous individuals across sectors have fallen victim to similar tactics. Both Russia and China have exploited deepfake technology, with Russia employing AI-generated political impersonations to create division and uncertainty, while China uses AI-generated media to influence narratives in foreign contexts. The goal of these operations is to undermine trust rather than steal information, presenting a new challenge in cybersecurity and governance.
The Rubio incident is no longer a rarity. It is a warning shot... adversaries... are now using hyper-realistic deepfakes to reach targets in virtually every sector of society.
Unlike traditional espionage, which seeks out specific intelligence information, deepfakes aim at something even more corrosive: trust itself.
Moscow's now-infamous Doppelgänger campaign began with cloned websites and manipulated news stories to undermine support for Ukraine and fracture confidence in Western institutions.
Beijing's approach has been quieter but no less ambitious. Its Spamouflage and Dragonbridge networks have started using AI-generated anchors and videos to seed narratives abroad.
Collection
[
|
...
]