Pennsylvania Secretary of State Al Schmidt said mail-in ballots cannot be counted until 7 a.m. on Election Day under state law preventing pre-canvassing, so voters should not expect the final results to be available on election night. Elections are one of the most crucial parts of any democracy, and unfortunately that also means bad actors try to twist things for their own gain. With the U.S. general elections just around the corner, cybersecurity risks are ramping up, not just to the systems running the election but also to you. Social media and the internet are being used to spread propaganda and sway your opinions. What's even more concerning is that these campaigns are now powered by AI tools, making it very easy for bad actors to churn out misleading information at lightning speed and on a huge scale.

Using techniques such as machine learning (ML) and virtual patching, it can automatically secure new and existing workloads both against known and …

Impersonating someone is hardly a revolutionary type of fraud, but this summer Patrick Hillmann, chief communications officer at cryptocurrency exchange Binance, found himself victim of a new approach to spoofing – using an artificial intelligence (AI) generated video also known as a deepfake. In August, Hillmann, who has been with the company for two years, received several online messages from people claiming that he had met with them regarding "potential opportunities to list their assets in Binance" – something he found odd because he didn't have oversight of Binance's listings. Moreover, the executive said, he had never met with any of the people who were messaging him. In a company blog post, Hillmann claimed that cybercriminals had set up Zoom calls with people via a fake LinkedIn profile, and used his previous news interviews and TV appearances to create a deepfake of him to participate in the calls. He described it as "refined enough to fool several highly intelligent crypto community members."

Malicious campaigns involving the use of deepfake technologies are a lot closer than many might assume. Furthermore, mitigation and detection of them are hard. A new study of the use and abuse of deepfakes by cybercriminals shows that all the needed elements for widespread use of the technology are in place and readily available in underground markets and open forums. The study by Trend Micro shows that many deepfake-enabled phishing, business email compromise (BEC), and promotional scams are already happening and are quickly reshaping the threat landscape. "From hypothetical and proof-of-concept threats, [deepfake-enabled attacks] have moved to the stage where non-mature criminals are capable of using such technologies," says Vladimir Kropotov, security researcher with Trend Micro and the main author of a report on the topic that the security vendor released this week.

All of the materials and tools needed to make deepfake videos – from source code to publicly available images and account authentication bypass services – are readily available and up for sale on the public internet and underground forums. Cyber criminals are taking advantage of this easy access to resources, and using deepfakes to build on today's crime techniques, such as business email compromise (BEC), to make off with even more money, according to Trend Micro researchers. Not only that, but deepfakes are being used in web ads to make Elon Musk, security specialists, and others appear as though they are endorsing products to which they have no connection with. "The growing appearance of deepfake attacks is significantly reshaping the threat landscape for organizations, financial institutions, celebrities, political figures, and even ordinary people," the security outfit's Vladimir Kropotov, Fyodor Yarochkin, Craig Gibson, and Stephen Hilt warned in research published on Tuesday. Specifically, corporations need to worry about deepfakes, we're told, as criminals begin using them to create fake individuals, such as job seekers to scam their way into roles, or impersonate executives on video calls to hoodwink employees into transferring company funds or data.

Artificial intelligence has been described as a'general purpose technology'. This means that, like electricity, computers and the internet before it, AI is expected to have applications in every corner of society. Unfortunately for organisations seeking to keep their IT secure, this includes cybercrime. In 2020, a study by European police agency Europol and security provider Trend Micro, identified how cybercriminals are already using AI to make their attacks more effective, and the many ways AI will power cybercrime in future. "Cybercriminals have always been early adopters of the latest technology and AI is no different," said Martin Roesler, head of forward-looking threat research at Trend Micro, when the report was published. "It is already being used for password guessing, CAPTCHA-breaking and voice cloning, and there are many more malicious innovations in the works."

"Has anyone witnessed any examples of criminals abusing artificial intelligence?" That's a question security firms have been raising in recent years. But a new public/private report into AI and ML identifies likely ways in which such attacks might occur - and offers examples of threats already emerging. The most likely criminal use cases will involve "AI as a service" offerings, as well as AI enabled or supported offerings, as part of the wider cybercrime-as-a-service ecosystem. That's according to the EU's law enforcement intelligence agency, Europol, the United Nations Interregional Crime and Justice Research Institute - UNICRI - and Tokyo-based security firm Trend Micro, which prepared the joint report: "Malicious Uses and Abuses of Artificial Intelligence".

CLOUDSEC 2021, one of the industry's biggest cybersecurity events hosted by Trend Micro Incorporated attracted thought leaders and technology experts across sectors speaking at the virtual event this year. The speakers opined that Modern Architecture, Security by Design, Attack Surface and Business Enabler are the four key aspects that will play a pivotal role for organisations in defining their cybersecurity posture. The panelists emphasized that the need of the hour is to develop a platform-based approach than having a single point-based approach. With innovation fueling the change in enterprise architecture, unsecure innovation could lead to data loss and breaches. Hence, it is important to create a culture of cybersecurity where business leaders talk about the importance of cybersecurity within the company, and this is where Security by Design comes into picture. With an increased adoption of DevOps and Infrastructure as Code security, there is an explosion of the attack surface.

Unfortunately, scams trying to steal your heart and money are, too. As Valentine's Day nears, potential scammers are attempting to take advantage, focused on stealing personal information or money. Whether you're looking for love on social networks or dating sites or looking to buy a special gift for your loved one, scammers are lurking to trick you. This season in particular, as many Americans remain homebound due to COVID-19 outbreaks, the number of scams related to romance or Valentine's Day is on the rise. Lynette Owens, global director of internet safety at Trend Micro, said scams related to romance are up 20% over last year, caused by the "double whammy" of people staying online more due to the pandemic and increased isolation.

A jointly developed new report by Europol, the United Nations Interregional Crime and Justice Research Institute (UNICRI) and Trend Micro looking into current and predicted criminal uses of artificial intelligence (AI) was released today. The report provides law enforcers, policymakers and other organisations with information on existing and potential attacks leveraging AI and recommendations on how to mitigate these risks. "AI promises the world greater efficiency, automation and autonomy. At a time where the public is getting increasingly concerned about the possible misuse of AI, we have to be transparent about the threats, but also look into the potential benefits from AI technology." said Edvardas Šileris, Head of Europol's European Cybercrime Centre. "This report will help us not only to anticipate possible malicious uses and abuses of AI, but also to prevent and mitigate those threats proactively. This is how we can unlock the potential AI holds and benefit from the positive use of AI systems."