AI Voice Spoofing
What is it and how can we defend against it
AI Voice Spoofing uses artificial intelligence to clone or synthesise a person’s voice to deceive victims in cybersecurity attacks, creating highly convincing audio impersonations.
Here's how it works:
AI models analyse voice samples (from videos, social media, voicemails, or recordings) to replicate someone’s speech patterns, tone, accent, and mannerisms. Modern tools can create realistic voice clones from just seconds of audio.
Common attack scenarios:
- CEO fraud calls: Impersonating executives to authorise urgent wire transfers
- Family emergency scams: Faking a relative’s voice claiming they’re in trouble and need money
- Verification bypass: Defeating voice-based authentication systems
- Social engineering: Building trust in phone-based attacks by impersonating colleagues or authorities
Real-world examples:
Criminals have successfully stolen millions by impersonating CEOs over phone calls, convincing finance teams to transfer funds to fraudulent accounts.
Why it's dangerous:
- Voice cloning technology is increasingly accessible and affordable
- People inherently trust familiar voices
- Difficult to detect in real-time conversations
- Combines well with other social engineering tactics
Prevention:
- Establish verification protocols for sensitive requests (callback procedures, code words)
- Be skeptical of urgent financial requests, even from familiar voices
- Limit publicly available voice recordings
- Use multi-channel verification for high-stakes decisions
- Educate employees about this threat