What CISOs Need to Know About Deepfakes

Summary:

As deepfake technology becomes more sophisticated and accessible, it poses a growing threat to enterprise security. From impersonation scams and social engineering to reputational damage and insider exploitation, deepfakes are enabling a new class of cyberattacks that CISOs can’t afford to ignore. This blog explores the evolving risks of deepfakes, how they’re being weaponized against organizations, and what security leaders must do to detect, prevent, and respond to these AI-driven threats.

What CISOs Need to Know About Deepfakes

As artificial intelligence (AI) continues to evolve, so do the threats it enables. One of the most concerning developments in recent years is the rise of deepfakes—hyper-realistic audio, video, or image forgeries created using AI and machine learning. While once confined to novelty or misinformation, deepfakes are now increasingly being weaponized against organizations, making them a critical concern for Chief Information Security Officers (CISOs). 

Outside of cybersecurity concerns, deepfakes are already being used maliciously for blackmail and manipulation. U.S. lawmakers have proposed a bill to regulate deepfake images, especially when they use someone’s likeness to manipulate them or harm their image. However, deepfakes continue to be used by malicious actors in the meantime.

This blog explores what deepfakes are, how they’re being used in cybercrime, and what CISOs can do to protect their organizations from this rapidly growing threat.

What Are Deepfakes?

Deepfakes are synthetic media generated by AI techniques, particularly generative adversarial networks (GANs). These tools can convincingly manipulate video, audio, or text to make it appear that someone said or did something they never did. The technology can simulate everything from a CEO’s voice giving fraudulent financial instructions to a real-time video call with someone impersonating a known executive. Initially used in entertainment or social media, deepfakes are now being exploited in more malicious contexts, including:

• Business email compromise (BEC) using voice impersonation
• Social engineering attacks on employees
• Disinformation campaigns
• Fraudulent financial transactions

The Growing Risk to Enterprises

For CISOs, deepfakes represent a multifaceted security threat:

1. Impersonation in Financial Fraud

Imagine receiving a voicemail or a real-time call from what appears to be your CFO asking for an urgent wire transfer. With deepfake audio and video, this is no longer a far-fetched scenario. In 2023, an international firm lost over $25 million in a deepfake-powered scam involving a realistic video call impersonating the company’s executives. As these types of deepfake technology become increasingly accessible, these types of scams may also become commonplace.

2. Social Engineering at Scale

Another threat deepfakes pose on businesses is the ability to perform social engineering attacks at a much higher level. Traditional phishing attacks rely on text-based deception. Deepfakes, on the other hand, take this to a new level, adding voice and video, making phishing more convincing. An attacker could use a deepfake to impersonate an internal leader, directing employees to download malware, disclose credentials, or approve unauthorized actions.

Learn more about the different types of AI-driven social engineering attacks in our blog “Scamdemic: The Rise of AI Vishing, Smishing and Phishing.“

3. Reputation Damage and Misinformation

Furthermore, deepfakes can also be used to cause reputational damage or spread false information. For example, a Russian deepfake of Tom Cruise was created to attempt to criticize the Paris Olympics in 2024. Similarly, a fabricated video of a CEO making controversial remarks could go viral, damaging investor confidence and brand reputation. Even if quickly disproven, the initial shockwave can have a lasting impact—especially in sectors like finance, healthcare, or government, where trust is paramount.

4. Internal Threat Amplification

Additionally, deepfakes also blur the line between insider and outsider threats. Malicious insiders could leverage deepfake tools to simulate legitimate communications, giving them plausible deniability while enabling significant damage. Deepfakes allow an internal threat actor to disguise their identity while mimicking well-meaning employees. This type of attack is particularly dangerous because it bypasses traditional perimeter defenses, exploits trust within the organization and makes detection and attribution much harder. 

Worried about insider threats? Check out this blog on Understanding and Preventing Internal Cybersecurity Threats.

5. Deepfake Tools Are Getting Easier to Use

The barrier to entry for deepfake generation has fallen drastically. Today, open-source tools and freemium platforms allow almost anyone to create realistic forgeries with just a few minutes of sample footage or voice. Cybercriminals no longer need sophisticated knowledge of AI—only access to the right tools and data. This commoditization of deepfake technology increases the urgency for CISOs to take proactive measures.

What CISOs Should Do Now

1. Educate Employees and Executives

For starters, security awareness training is something that every organization should incorporate – especially with phishing scams and AI-attacks becoming so common. Security awareness is the first line of defense. Businesses must train employees on how deepfakes work, what they look or sound like, and how to respond to suspicious communications. This includes double-checking instructions that involve financial transactions or credential sharing; confirming requests through multiple communication channels; and being cautious of urgent, emotionally charged messages. 

Discover how security awareness training can protect your business in our blog, “7 Common Threats that Security Awareness Training Helps Mitigate.“

2. Implement Deepfake Detection Technology

Additionally, deepfake detection technology should be implemented as a safeguard. Several cybersecurity vendors now offer AI-based tools to detect signs of manipulated media. These solutions analyze inconsistencies in voice patterns, facial movements, lighting, or audio artifacts that indicate synthetic content. While not foolproof, detection tools can be integrated into existing incident response pipelines.

3. Update Incident Response Plans

Your current incident response plan likely doesn’t account for deepfakes—but it should. Include protocols for verifying communications, preserving suspicious media for forensic analysis, and escalating potential impersonation cases. Assign specific roles and establish response timelines to minimize impact.

4. Harden Verification Processes

Implement strong multi-factor authentication (MFA) for communications involving critical actions such as fund transfers, contract approvals, or password resets. Consider adding “out-of-band” confirmation steps like in-person validation or biometrics for high-risk activities or significant payments.

Download our Password Policy Checklist for best practices on your employee’s verification processes.

5. Monitor the Threat Landscape

Threat actors are innovating rapidly. Staying in the know about the latest malicious threats by subscribing to intelligence feeds focused on AI threats, and keeping informed about new deepfake attack vectors can help protect your organization. Understanding the tools adversaries are using can inform defensive strategies and investments.

6. Collaborate Across Departments

Deepfake risks touch cybersecurity, PR, legal, and executive leadership. A cross-functional response ensures your organization can act quickly to contain damage and restore trust if a deepfake-related event occurs. Legal teams should also be aware of emerging regulations surrounding synthetic media.

7. Follow Emerging Legal and Regulatory Considerations

Regulations around deepfakes are starting to take shape, particularly in jurisdictions concerned with election integrity, consumer protection, and digital identity. CISOs should coordinate with legal counsel to track compliance requirements related to synthetic media, prepare for data privacy implications if personal likenesses are misused, and ensure policies exist around ethical AI use within their own organization. Being proactive not only mitigates legal risk but signals to stakeholders that the organization takes AI-related threats seriously.

Wrapping Up

As the arms race between attackers and defenders continues, defensive AI is emerging to combat deepfakes. Future tools will be able to cross-verify communication context, biometric identifiers, and behavioral analytics in real time. CISOs should prepare to invest in AI-driven threat detection not just for traditional cyber risks, but for synthetic identity threats as well. In the long term, digital watermarking and identity verification platforms (such as blockchain-backed identity systems) may become essential for proving authenticity in business communications. 

Key Takeaways

• Deepfakes pose a significant threat to cybersecurity, particularly through impersonation, social engineering, and reputation attacks.
• They are increasingly easy to create, even for low-skill threat actors, thanks to freely available tools.
• CISOs must act proactively by updating incident response plans, training employees, and deploying detection technologies.
• Verification processes need to be hardened, especially for sensitive or high-risk communications.
• Cross-functional collaboration and legal preparedness are key to mitigating both security and reputational risk.
• Investing in AI-driven defenses will be critical as threat actors continue to use AI for increasingly sophisticated attacks.