An AI First: Voice-Mimicking Software reportedly used in a Major heist

Voice-Mimicking is an art. If anyone imitates other person it’s a hidden talent of that person. But the same voice mimics is been done to fraud someone is a crime. It will not end up with only one person; hence it incurs others as well in their crime.

Report: Researchers at Symantec said they have found at least three cases of executives’ voices being mimicked to swindle companies. The researchers said, Mugger used software of voice-mimicking to imitate a company executive’s speech and dupe his subordinate into sending hundreds of thousands of dollars to a secret account. The insurer of that company said, in a remarkable case that some researchers are calling one of the world’s first publicly reported artificial-intelligence heists.

Wall Street Journal was the first case reported by the insurer, provided new details on the theft to The Washington Post on Wednesday, including an email from the employee

British energy company MD, believes that his boss was on the phone, followed orders one Friday afternoon in March to wire more than $240,000 ( in INR roughly 1.7 crores) to an account in Hungary, which declined to name the company.

AI-generated videos and  with the help of synthetic audio, known as “deepfakes,” have fueled growing anxieties over how the new technologies can erode public trust, empower criminals and make traditional communication –to deal with  business and family phone calls to presidential campaigns – that much more vulnerable to computerized manipulation.

In the near future, Researchers need to be more cautious as they release technology as powerful as voice-synthesis technology, because clearly it’s at a point where it can be misused.

Source: NDTV