New research has revealed that 77 per cent of cyber security decision-makers in financial services are concerned about the threat deepfakes pose to their industry, but just 28 per cent have implemented measures to combat such a threat.

Biometric authentication firm iProov polled over 100 experts responsible for overseeing cyber security operations in financial services firms, finding that just under half (43 per cent) cited deepfakes as the tactic most likely to compromise facial authentication defences.

A portmanteau of deep learning and fake, deepfakes are a branch of synthetic media in which a person in an existing image or video is replaced with someone else's likeness using neural network technology.

The use of deepfake technology in fake news, pornographic videos, hoaxes and fraud has created a storm of controversy recently, with Facebook earlier this month announcing plans to ban them from its platform, with concerns mounting about their influence on the impending US election.

In a financial context, respondents expected those making online payments (50 per cent) and using personal banking services (46 per cent), to be most at risk from deepfakes.

Andrew Bud, founder and chief executive at iProov, said: “It's likely that so few organisations have taken action because they’re unaware of how quickly this technology is evolving – the latest deepfakes are so good they will convince most people and systems, and they’re only going to become more realistic.”

He added: “The era in which we can believe the evidence of our own eyes is ending – without technology to help us identify fakery, every moving and still image will, in future, become suspect.”

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