Tag Archive for: Call

I’m a security expert – Android, iPhone users warned they ‘can’t trust their ears’ as eerie AI call raids bank accounts

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CYBERSECURITY experts have warned billions of Android and iPhone users that they might not be able to trust their own ears from scammers looking to raid their banks. 

As artificial intelligence continues to develop, cybersecurity and anti-virus software provider Kaspersky Lab is warning people of scammers using deep-fake technology in phone calls. 

Cybersecurity experts are warning smartphone users of scammers using voice deepfakesCredit: Getty
The scams use fake audio recordings in an attempt to steal money and personal dataCredit: Getty
The technology compresses two recordings togetherCredit: Niral Shah/Stanford/K. Qian, Y. Zhang, S. Chang, et al

Also known as voice cloning or voice conversion, the cyber security company highlighted voice deep fakes in a recent blog post. 

According to the company, this technology is based on autoencoders, which compresses input data into a compact internal representation before learning to decompress it back, restoring the original data. 

In other words, the AI program will first be given data such as two audio recordings – one with the original audio and words, and the other with the voice it wants to use instead. 

Next, the system determines what was said in the first recording and how the voice in the second recording speaks – such as various inflections or accents. 

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Then, the system will combine these two compressed representations together to then generate the voice in the second recording saying the words from the first. 

While this technology might seem harmless to some – or the foundations of a good prank – it can be very dangerous when put in the wrong hands. 

Kaspersky Lab detailed that scammers have been using this technology for years to target companies and individuals worldwide. 

In 2019, for example, criminals used AI software to create fraudulent money transfer requests supposedly from the chief executive officers of an energy firm in the United Kingdom. 

Not only did the scammers use the technology to make the initial request over the phone, they also falsified two additional phone calls to confirm the first transfer and request a second. 

Because the AI program had used a…

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At least S$12 million lost in fake friend call scams since January; new variant involving Android malware

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SINGAPORE: At least S$12 million (US$8.9 million) has been lost in fake friend call scams since January 2023, the police said on Wednesday (Jul 5), warning of a new variant involving malicious Android links.

At least 3,700 victims have fallen prey to such scams since the beginning of the year.

They would receive text messages or phone calls from unknown numbers – with or without the +65 prefix. Scammers would claim to be a friend or an acquaintance and ask the victims to guess their real identity. 

Once a name is provided, the scammer would assume the identity of the victim’s friend and ask them to update their contact details.

“The scammers would contact the victims subsequently to ask for a loan and would claim that he or she is unable to perform a banking transaction or is experiencing financial difficulties,” said the police. 

Victims would then be provided with a local bank account to transfer the money.

While there has been a “persistent trend” of such scams, the police said they have seen a new variant where scammers would send victims malicious links, asking them to help with simple tasks such as making purchases, reserving seats at a restaurant or tracking a missing phone. 

“These malicious links will lead victims to either phishing sites and/or the download of an Android Package Kit (APK) file, an application created for Android’s operating system,” said the police, adding that victims would discover unauthorised transactions after keying in their banking credentials or card details. 

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City Employees Call for Answers, Ongoing Ransomware Attack on Dallas – NBC 5 Dallas-Fort Worth

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City Employees Call for Answers, Ongoing Ransomware Attack on Dallas  NBC 5 Dallas-Fort Worth

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experts call for increased investment in internet security – The Sun Nigeria

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….As CBN, EFCC, CDS, others brainstorm

In order to combat the current incidence of internet fraud in Nigeria, information technology (IT) professionals on the platform of the Nigeria Computer Society (NCS) have said that the country has to invest significantly in cyber security, develop local skills, and take IT more seriously.

NCS President, Prof Adesina Sodiya stated this at the opening of the Annual Cyber Security Forum and Workshop organised by the organisation, Wednesday in Abuja.

Sodiya said the workshop, which was attended by representatives of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), the the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), Chief of Defence Staff, among other top government institutions and functionaries, was to provide a platform for experts to come together and discuss how the nation’s cyber security challenges could be solved.

According to him, “A lot is going on in the financial and other sectors. You just heard from the EFCC guy where he confirmed that they are facing a lot of challenges in the area of cyber security. The issue is that so many of our young men, mostly due to unemployment are taking into cyber crimes. If you know what our youths can do, you would be amazed.”

Speaking further, he recommended that, “The first thing we need to do to address the issue of cyber insecurity is to invest more in cyber security protection. Critical information infrastructure protection. Some people in government, still do not know the level of threat that we have and even when some IT professionals are mentioning these threats, they feel that they want to use the opportunity to get money and so on and so forth but, the truth remains that we need to invest more on cyber security.

“We also need to truly make cyber security a business. Some of these guys that are experts, we should find a way of harnessing their skills for something that is go for the nation.

“Then again, government should take the issue of IT very seriously. The issue of IT is not something they should play with. Look at what happened to INEC, we told them that they needed to prepare well for cyber security. We sent proposals to them. Eventually, one of the…

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