The popular cybersecurity company, McAfee, is claiming its new tool excels at detecting audio deepfakes. Thanks to the rise of AI software, it’s easier than ever to fake someone’s identity. Anyone can use the software to create realistic audio files or videos of real people and distribute them as fake.
While these can be used for harmless purposes like movies, video game creation, or even jokes in YouTube videos, they can be used for more nefarious purposes as well. With AI improving, it’s easier than ever to create content like political propaganda or unconsenting pornography.
Over 33% of people have claimed to have seen a deepfake scam at some point. McAfee normally sells legacy antivirus suites, VPNs, and other similar tools — now they’ve included a device to detect AI-created audio deepfakes. The tool is dubbed Project Mockingbird
“This new, proprietary technology was developed to help defend consumers against the surging threat of cybercriminals utilizing fabricated,” the company stated. “AI-generated audio to carry out scams that rob people of money and personal information, enable cyberbullying, and manipulate the public image of prominent figures.”
McAfee claims it’s 90% effective at discovering deepfakes.
“Much like a weather forecast indicating a 70% chance of rain helps you plan your day, our technology equips you with insights to make educated decisions about whether content is what it appears to be,” McAfee said.
The company does this by combining multiple security models.
“Structural models are used to understand the threat types, behavior models to understand what that threat does, and contextual models to trace the origin of the data underpinning a particular threat,” McAfee writes.
The tool isn’t quite ready yet but McAfee has already assured customers that it will be part of its overall antivirus suite. If you already have a McAfee subscription, you should get the tool at no additional cost.