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Seeing Isn’t Believing: Deepfakes & the Corporate Security Challenge

Liferaft |    June 13, 2025

bstract illustration showing multiple digital faces in red hues, symbolizing AI-generated deepfakes and cyber threats against corporate security.

The world of corporate security is facing a seismic shift. Deepfakes (AI-generated audio, video, and images that convincingly mimic real people) have moved from being a technological curiosity to the most potent weapon in the social engineer’s arsenal. If your organization isn’t preparing for this new frontier, you’re already behind.

 

The Convergence of Deepfakes and Social Engineering

Social engineering has always preyed on human psychology, impacting trust, authority, urgency, and familiarity. But deepfakes supercharge these tactics, enabling attackers to impersonate executives, colleagues, or even regulators with a realism that’s nearly indistinguishable from the genuine article. The result? Classic phishing and business email compromise (BEC) attacks have evolved into multi-channel, AI-powered campaigns that can bypass even the most vigilant employees.

Consider the 2024 incident at Arup, where scammers used a deepfake video call to impersonate the company’s CFO and orchestrate a $25 million heist. This wasn’t a lone wolf with a clever email. It was a coordinated, real-time manipulation that weaponized trust at scale. The same year, WPP, a global advertising giant, narrowly avoided a similar fate when a deepfake scam was detected just in time. These are not isolated incidents; over half of businesses in the U.S. and U.K. have already been targeted by deepfake-powered scams, with 43% falling victim.

 

Beyond Financial Fraud

The risks extend far beyond financial loss. Deepfakes can be used to:

  • Damage reputations with fake statements or compromising videos of executives.
  • Facilitate credential theft by tricking employees into revealing sensitive information.
  • Undermine market confidence and erode trust in leadership.
  • Launch coordinated attacks across multiple platforms, such as email, SMS, chat, and live calls, to overwhelm defenses.

The FBI has already warned of deepfake voice cloning being used to impersonate government officials in phishing campaigns, and red-team testers have demonstrated how easily deepfaked voices can bypass network access controls. The threat is no longer theoretical.

 

Why Are Deepfakes So Effective?

Deepfakes exploit the very cognitive shortcuts that make us efficient at navigating social environments and the same elements that make us, well… human. 

“At its core, the success and effectiveness of deepfake phishing lies in its ability to exploit human trust and gullibility.”

Stu Sjouwerman, Founder & Executive Chairman of KnowBe4 Inc.

 

When a familiar face or authoritative voice asks for urgent action, especially over video or audio, our instincts to comply often override our skepticism. Attackers create a sense of panic or urgency, short-circuiting critical thinking and prompting employees to bypass established protocols. The psychological manipulation is so powerful that even seasoned professionals can be fooled.

Statistics further illustrate the scale of the problem. In 2024, 26% of people encountered a deepfake scam online, and 9% fell for it, underscoring how common and effective these attacks have become. The fact that people can only identify deepfakes with 57% accuracy, much lower than the 84% accuracy of top AI detection tools, demonstrates how our natural inclination to trust what we see and hear can be exploited.

Moreover, deepfake technology is becoming more accessible and sophisticated. What once required Hollywood-level resources can now be accomplished with off-the-shelf AI tools. Attackers can synchronize fake emails, calls, and even live video conferences, overwhelming traditional verification processes and exploiting every crack in corporate defenses.



Take The Offensive Position Against Deepfakes

As deepfake threats continue to evolve, it’s critical for corporate security teams to move beyond simply reacting to incidents and instead take proactive steps to address these risks.

Here’s what corporate security leaders must prioritize in the fight against deepfake infiltration:

  1. Continuous Training: Employees need regular, scenario-based training that includes deepfake awareness and verification protocols for all high-risk transactions.
  2. Layered Verification: Relying on a single channel for verification is obsolete. Implement multi-channel, out-of-band verification for sensitive requests.
  3. Advanced Detection Tools: Invest in AI-driven deepfake detection, digital forensics, and identity protection solutions that can keep pace with evolving threats.
  4. Incident Response Readiness: Assume deepfake attacks will happen. Develop and rehearse response plans that include rapid communication, containment, and remediation.



The Wrap Up

Deepfakes represent the next frontier of cyber risk, fundamentally altering the threat perspective for every organization. The human element, once the last line of defense, is now the primary target! 

Those who take decisive action now will be the ones to safeguard not just their organizations but the very foundation of trust that business depends on because, in the age of deepfakes, it is that very concept of trust that is being challenged and abused today.