Artificial intelligence (AI) has taken off, and whether your business has chosen to incorporate its features and functions to your daily operations or not, you business will be affected by AI regardless. This is true for both the business you may lose or gain as a result of AI, but also for the risks that the mere existence of AI tools now pose to the security of your business.
Voice-enabled AI systems are becoming increasingly popular, and is by far one of the most dangerous kinds of AI, as voice impersonation poses among the greatest risks to businesses and individuals alike. With the help of AI-powered voice cloning technology, it is now possible to create a voice that sounds exactly like someone else’s. This can be used to impersonate a company executive, a customer, or any other individual for fraudulent purposes – and already there are a growing number of reports of fraudsters making use of this tool.
Earlier this year, a mom was nearly hoaxed by a frantic phone call from her daughter in which an AI cloned voice claimed to be in trouble and in need of ransom money. This incident took place following one that reported that cybercriminals had cloned the voice of a company director in the U.A.E. to steal as much as $35 million in a huge and complex heist.
These incidents prove that businesses need to have security at the front of their minds and beware of the ways in which AI technology places them at risk. We take a look at some of the ways in which AI can compromise your business security.
Security risks AI voice poses to your business
- Phishing: As the above examples indicate, AI voice technology can be used to impersonate a person’s voice. This can make it easy to clone the voice of a company executive or a customer to launch phishing attacks by impersonating a trusted source to get sensitive information.
- Fake commands: Voice impersonation could also be used to issue malicious commands to voice-operated devices like an office safe that may be encrypted to use voice authentication to unlock the company safe. The same goes for a business cell phone or smart device that accepts voice commands.
- Data breaches: AI voice assistants typically collect and store data on user interactions and conversations, including personal information and confidential business data. This means that without the right security controls, sensitive business data is at risk of being exposed through voice impersonation that is now more possible with voice AI.
Safeguard your business against the cybersecurity risks that come with AI
- Make use of data encryption: This allows you to convert sensitive data into a code that cannot be easily read or understood by unauthorized individuals. With AI technology’s rapid advancement, businesses should ensure that all financial data is encrypted to protect the data from cyber attacks.
- Implement multi-factor authentication: Multi-factor authentication (MFA) requires users to provide two or more forms of authentication before they can access sensitive information. If your business doesn’t already make use of MFA, then there’s no time to waste. Multi-factor authentication can safeguard your business against voice bots that may try to impersonate the voices of your business authorizers.
- Empower staff to become cyber safety ambassadors: Investing in regular training that creates awareness empowers employees to identify and prevent cyber attacks, could help prevent potential security risks. Trained employees are also far more likely to identify potential vulnerabilities in their systems and networks.
Consulting with cybersecurity experts or CPAs that implement secure finance software and process can help you protect your business. Consult with your banker and CPA to look into additional controls when it comes to protecting your business in the climate of AI.
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