If you’ve been online for even a minute, you’ve probably encountered a phishing scam or two. Maybe it was an email from “your bank” asking you to verify your account info. Maybe it was a text from someone who “looks like” your friend asking for money.
And if you think these are just annoying, low-effort attempts to steal your cash, you’re missing the bigger picture. These days, hackers and scammers are using AI in ways that will make you question every email, every call, and every text you receive.
Once upon a time, phishing attempts were laughably obvious. You could spot the fake email a mile away—poor grammar, strange sender addresses, and suspicious links gave them away every time.
Not anymore.
Thanks to AI, those days are over. We’re talking about a new breed of scams—ones that are so polished, so personalised, they can convince even the savviest among us to take action.
Hackers are no longer sending out mass, poorly written spam; they’re creating attacks that feel personal, feel real, and most importantly, feel like they came from someone you trust.
Let’s talk about deepfakes—because if you haven’t heard about them yet, buckle up. These AI-generated videos are making it possible for bad actors to manipulate reality in ways you’d never think possible.
Imagine this: you’re sitting at your desk when a video from your boss pops up on your screen, asking you to make a wire transfer. Seems legit, right? After all, it’s your boss on the screen, speaking in your boss’s voice. But guess what? It’s all fake.
Hackers have taken AI’s ability to replicate voices and faces, and they’re using it to impersonate trusted figures—your boss, a coworker, even a government official.
The result? Scammers now have the power to manipulate you visually and audibly into making decisions you’d normally never consider.
Meanwhile, cybercriminals are having a field day, and the 2024 ESET H2 Threat Report is the proof. The data doesn’t lie: in the past year, we’ve seen a jaw-dropping 335% surge in deepfake scams.
Yes, you read that right—335%. Deepfakes are no longer just a fringe threat; they’ve become mainstream, and hackers are leveraging them to manipulate, defraud, and confuse victims with increasing sophistication.
When Did Deepfakes Start?
Ah, the term deepfakes. If you’ve been online for any length of time, you’ve likely heard it tossed around as a buzzword, but do you really know what it means?
For those not in the know, deepfakes are AI-generated videos or images that convincingly alter reality, often making it seem like someone is doing or saying something they never did.
The term first gained steam back in 2017, when a Reddit user—ironically named “deepfakes”—decided to merge “deep learning” and “fake” to describe this disturbing trend.
Little did we know that what started as a fascination with altering celebrity faces on adult film actors’ bodies would evolve into something far more sinister, and far more widespread.
Let’s break it down: this isn’t just some random online joke. Deepfakes have roots in decades of tech advancements. We can trace their lineage back to 1990 when Adobe Photoshop made it easy to alter photos.
Flash forward to the early 2000s, and neural networks and machine learning were making it possible to swap faces for movie magic. Then, in 2014, Ian Goodfellow came along and introduced generative adversarial networks (GANs)—and boom, things really started getting interesting.
By 2019, tools like DeepFaceLab and FakeApp took things even further, making it so easy to create convincing deepfakes that almost anyone with a computer could join in on the action. And let’s be real: they did.
It’s 2024, and we’re still dealing with this corporate blind spot. Despite the overwhelming evidence that deepfakes are a real, existential threat to businesses, many company leaders are still asleep at the wheel. And guess what? They’re not just ignoring it—they’re underestimating it.
According to a recent study by business.com, more than 10% of companies have already faced attempted or successful deepfake fraud. Let that sink in for a moment.
In other words, one out of every 10 businesses out there has felt the sting of a deepfake attack, and some of them are paying the price in real money—up to 10% of their annual profits lost to scams fuelled by this technology.
Now, here’s the kicker: About 25% of business leaders don’t even know what deepfakes are, or at least aren’t familiar enough with the technology to recognize the danger.
If you’re reading this and wondering how any CEO could be in the dark about such a serious threat, you’re not alone. But the numbers don’t lie.
Its like ignoring the fact that your house is on fire because you don’t see the smoke yet.
It’s not just a few CEOs out of touch with the latest tech trends—it’s a quarter of them. That’s a huge gap in awareness. And because of this, about 31% of executives are still telling themselves that deepfakes don’t really pose a threat to their business.
Here’s the real horror story: 80% of companies don’t even have protocols in place to deal with deepfake attacks. Let that sink in.
The majority of businesses are completely unprepared for a technology that is only getting more advanced—and more accessible—by the day. And as for training employees?
Over 50% of leaders admit their teams aren’t trained on how to recognise or deal with deepfake attacks. This is an epidemic of corporate ignorance, and it’s only a matter of time before it blows up in their faces.
Let’s talk about solutions—or rather, the lack of them. Only 5% of company leaders report having a comprehensive deepfake prevention strategy, covering everything from staff training to communication protocols. That’s just 5%—a tiny fraction of the corporate world even remotely prepared for this threat.
So, what are the rest of the companies doing? Sticking their heads in the sand and hoping it goes away? It’s hard to say. But what’s clear is that most businesses are sitting ducks, waiting for the next big deepfake attack to hit them like a freight train.
If you’re in a position of leadership at a company, consider this your wake-up call. You cannot afford to keep ignoring the threat of deepfakes.
These aren’t just internet pranks; they’re real weapons of fraud that can destroy your company’s finances, reputation, and client trust. If you don’t have a plan to defend against them, you’re asking for trouble.
The truth is, deepfakes aren’t going away, and as they continue to improve, they’ll only get harder to spot. Your employees are the first line of defense, and they need to know how to recognize suspicious activity, verify communications, and report anything that doesn’t seem right.
And as a leader, it’s your responsibility to ensure that everyone in your organization—from the front desk to the C-suite—is armed with the knowledge and tools they need to stay protected.
And if you think deepfakes are just for Hollywood-style hoaxes, think again. They’re being used to swindle millions from unsuspecting individuals and organisations.
We’re not talking about some fringe conspiracy here; we’re talking about real-world threats that could easily lead to financial ruin.
These tools are accessible, they’re cheap, and they’re growing more sophisticated by the day. What’s stopping a hacker from impersonating a CEO, sending out a message, and causing the company to lose a fortune? Not much, unfortunately.
Now, here’s where it gets even messier. While these bad actors are using AI to enhance their scams, those of us who are supposed to be protected by “good” AI are left scrambling.
Sure, companies are rolling out AI-powered security systems, but are they keeping up with the speed at which criminals are evolving their tactics?
Not really. Hackers are already ahead of the game. They’re creating more convincing phishing schemes, generating emails that sound like they came from your best friend, and even creating realistic-sounding phone calls that can trick you into sharing private information.
Meanwhile, the systems designed to catch these scams are still playing catch-up, struggling to keep up with new, more advanced AI tools.
In an ironic twist, AI—once seen as a shiny, new tool to solve all our problems—has become the very thing that is now working against us.
You think you’re protecting yourself from fraud with a spam filter? Great, but good luck when your scammer has trained an AI to bypass it. You think your firewall can stop a phishing attack?
Maybe. But with AI’s ability to generate thousands of new scam variations per minute, it’s only a matter of time before the next attack slips through undetected.
And let’s not forget about the human element—you. AI is getting so good at crafting personalised messages that the line between real and fake is becoming nearly impossible to distinguish.
These scammers aren’t just sending out random emails anymore—they’re studying you. They know your name, they know your company, and they know exactly how to speak your language.
So, while you’re sitting there thinking you can tell a scam from a mile away, AI is doing the dirty work for them, creating messages that are increasingly hard to spot.
So here’s the bottom line: AI is a double-edged sword. While it holds enormous potential for good, it’s being weaponised by cybercriminals who are using it to outsmart us at every turn.
Meanwhile, the positive AI meant to protect us is constantly playing catch-up, struggling to outpace the very threats it was designed to block.
The Dark Side of AI: Your Data Is at Risk, Whether You Like It or Not
Let’s talk about something that should be on every user’s mind when using AI tools: your data.Whether you’re chatting with ChatGPT, getting help from Microsoft Copilot, or using any other AI-driven service, you’re essentially handing over your personal, sensitive information to a third party.
And what happens to that data? It’s stored on servers, processed, and—potentially—used in ways you don’t even know about.
And if those servers are compromised? Well, all that sensitive data—your personal details, financial information, and whatever else you’ve entered—is at risk of being exposed.
Earlier this year, we saw exactly this play out with OpenAI. They suspected that potential hacks may have exposed user data, which, frankly, is terrifying when you think about it.
If AI companies—who you’d think would have security locked down—are at risk of breaches, what does that say about the rest of us who are just trying to get some work done or maybe have a casual conversation with a chatbot?
The reality is that whenever you’re using tools like ChatGPT or Microsoft Copilot, you’re rolling the dice. Even with Microsoft’s supposedly “robust” security measures, the more data you share, the higher the risk of vulnerabilities.
Now, let’s kick it up a notch: What happens when companies adopt AI without the proper guardrails? That’s right—nothing good.
Without proper access controls and sensitivity labels, there’s a real chance that someone could prompt an AI tool like Copilot and pull up confidential information they shouldn’t have access to.
We’re talking about financial records, employee salaries, personal details, and more—all of it available at the push of a button if the system isn’t locked down correctly.
The worst part? AI doesn’t always know who should see what. If your company’s AI is set up incorrectly, it could inadvertently expose private information to anyone who happens to have access to it.
Imagine an employee accidentally retrieving salary details, personal addresses, or even company financial data because the system didn’t have proper restrictions. That’s a nightmare scenario, and yet it’s all too easy for it to happen when security isn’t a priority.
Look, AI tools are fantastic. They can save time, increase productivity, and provide real value in almost every industry. But if we’re going to fully embrace these tools, we need to have serious conversations about data security.
We need to understand that there are real risks involved, and those risks aren’t just hypothetical—they’ve already happened.
Your data is no longer just yours when it’s sitting on someone else’s server. It’s being processed, potentially stored, and—depending on the level of security—open to being exposed.
So the next time you’re interacting with an AI, think twice. Is the company you’re dealing with doing everything they can to keep your data secure?
Are they protecting it with the proper access controls and encryption? Or are they simply hoping for the best while you unknowingly hand over your most sensitive information? The future of AI is bright, but if we don’t take data security seriously, the risks could overshadow the benefits.
AI in Cybersecurity: The Silver Bullet We Wish It Wasn’t
Let’s face it: AI is often hailed as the knight in shining armor for cybersecurity. But is it really the ultimate solution to keeping your business safe? Spoiler alert: No, it’s not.
While AI has certainly made some headway in identifying and blocking threats faster than humans ever could, it’s not going to solve all our problems. Far from it.
The real key to cyber resilience lies in something far more fundamental: awareness and a culture of vigilance.
Sure, you can throw the latest AI-powered security systems at your network, but if your employees aren’t trained to recognise the red flags of a cyberattack, all that tech is just a Band-Aid on a bullet wound
Take a page from the Zero Trust playbook: Nothing and no one should be trusted by default. That means verifying everything, even the most legitimate-looking requests, before taking action. It’s the classic “trust, but verify” mentality, but with a heavy emphasis on always verifying first—no exceptions.
Simon Hearne, Head of Security at CloudClevr, gets it. He points out that the AI landscape is evolving so quickly that businesses will struggle to maintain their cyber resilience unless they continuously innovate and adapt.
“The AI landscape is evolving so much that it’s an ever-growing challenge for organisations to maintain their cyber resilience,” Hearne says.
“As the threat actors become more sophisticated, companies need to find more secure ways of verifying their clients and suppliers. Because here’s the truth: hackers aren’t just getting smarter; they’re getting sneakier.” he said.
The world of cybersecurity feels like a race where the bad guys always have a head start—and it’s a race that seems increasingly impossible to win.
Next time you get an email or a call, stop and think: is this really from who it says it’s from? The future of security might depend on your answer.
