Wired: You Need to Create a Secret Password With Your Family

Source URL: https://www.wired.com/story/you-need-to-create-a-secret-passphrase-with-your-family/
Source: Wired
Title: You Need to Create a Secret Password With Your Family

Feedly Summary: AI voice cloning and deepfakes are supercharging scams. One method to protect your loved ones and yourself is to create secret code words to verify someone’s identity in real time.

AI Summary and Description: Yes

Summary: The text discusses the increasing prevalence of scams leveraging AI technologies, specifically focusing on impersonation and deepfake tactics employed by fraudsters. It emphasizes the importance of creating family passphrases to verify identities and defend against these emerging scams, highlighting advice from security experts.

Detailed Description:
The text sheds light on the alarming rise in scams that utilize advanced technologies such as AI to deceive individuals. Here are the critical points of discussion:

– **Types of Scams**: The text outlines various forms of fraud, including:
– Romance fraud
– Business email compromise
– Investment scams
– Sextortion
– Impersonation scams, especially those targeting family members.

– **Call to Action**: The FBI and financial institutions are urging families to develop secret words or phrases as a verification method during suspicious interactions:
– This approach is designed to confirm the identity of persons requesting sensitive information or money, potentially preventing financial loss.

– **Manipulation Tactics**: The text emphasizes how scammers exploit emotional vulnerability—using urgency and panic to trick victims:
– Fraudsters may impersonate loved ones, creating scenarios that induce fear, such as kidnapping or accidents.

– **AI’s Role in Scams**: The increasing sophistication brought by AI technologies, specifically:
– Creation of deepfake videos and voice cloning from minimal audio samples.
– Instances where voice clones are employed to request money urgently under the pretense of family crises.

– **Expert Opinions**: Insights from professionals, including Erin Englund and Rachel Tobac, highlight:
– The breadth of risk posed by AI in legitimizing scams.
– Real-world accounts of AI voice-cloning attacks aimed at both families and businesses.

– **Guidelines for Creating Passphrases**:
– Recommendations on what to avoid: personal information easily accessible online and similarities with other passwords.
– The importance of choosing passphrases that are not predictable, thus enhancing security against infiltrators.

Given the implications of these insights, professionals in security and compliance must address the evolving tactics of scammers that leverage AI, reinforcing the need for education on security measures within family and business contexts. This discourse amplifies the ongoing discussion about the modernization of security protocols, as traditional methods become insufficient against new technological threats.