Experian expects deepfake content to create geo-political confusion in 2020

The report predicts hackers will increasingly target the political scene and activists using deepfake content and other infamous cyber weapons. A top prediction on Experian’s list involves phishing, a time-tested vector favored by hackers. Another noteworthy projection is that cyber-crooks will begin leveraging deepfake content to help influence political outcomes – i.e. in nation-states with upcoming elections or ongoing political turmoil. “As this technology comes of age and becomes readily accessible it will increasingly be used by cybercriminals and nation states to foster real disruption – both in financial markets and in politics,” according to the forecast. As the technology used to create deepfakes advances rapidly, motivated threat actors will likely increasingly harness its believability to achieve a plethora of end goals, including to sow political discord in targeted nation-states.