Cybersecurity, deepfakes and the human risk of AI fraud

A new wave of AI-generated phishing attempts is reaching government agencies in previously unheard-of ways. Since these ingenious new cyberattacks are delivered without typos, formatting issues, or other faults encountered in previous targeted phishing and spear-phishing efforts, organisation defenders are facing new challenges. — Image by freepik

On a March 2024 National Association of State Chief Information Officers call with both government and corporate IT leaders, an old security problem was highlighted that has evolved into a current top threat: Cybersecurity awareness training for end users is back near the top of government cybersecurity concerns, and we’ve seen this play out before. Or have we?

A new generation of AI-generated phishing attacks, arriving through emails, texts, voice messages and even videos, is targeting government organisations in unprecedented ways. These clever new cyber attacks are posing new challenges for organisation defenders because they are delivered without typos, formatting errors and other mistakes seen in past targeted phishing and spear-phishing campaigns.