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Abstract
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Cybercriminals are increasingly singling out researchers, alongside politicians and celebrities. Targeted scientists share tips on how to silence them.
Imagine Kgomotso Mathabe's surprise when, in January, a colleague alerted her that a video of her promoting a fake drug to treat erectile dysfunction was doing the rounds on social media. She'd done no such thing.
"It was a video of me saying there's this new drug based on research that I've been involved in," says the South African urologist, who splits her time between the Steve Biko Academic Hospital in Pretoria and the University of Pretoria. It was realistic enough for family friends to begin asking why they saw her face every time they went on Facebook.
The video of Mathabe was a deepfake, generated using artificial intelligence (AI) technology trained on real video and audio material. Such videos have become difficult to distinguish from the real thing, as well as easier and cheaper to make, so their harmful use is a growing concern.
Mathabe, a self-professed social-media recluse, did not know what to do. At first, she assumed the main purpose of the video was to sell fake drugs, a common scourge in South Africa, where handwritten notices advertising healing are a familiar sight in public spaces.
But it was worse than that. The video directed users to a website where they were asked to enter their banking details to receive the drug. Those who did so had money siphoned out of their account, often several times, and received no medicine in return. ...
Language: en |