McAfee unveils deepfake audio detection technology at CES 2024
Cybersecurity company McAfee has announced an AI-powered Deepfake Audio Detection technology, known as Project Mockingbird, at CES2024.
This new, proprietary technology was developed to help defend consumers against the surging threat of cybercriminals using fabricated, AI-generated audio to carry out scams that rob people of money and personal information.
Increasingly sophisticated and accessible generative AI tools have made it easier for cybercriminals to create highly convincing scams, such as using voice cloning to impersonate a family member in distress, asking for money. Others, often called “cheapfakes,” may involve manipulating authentic videos, like newscasts or celebrity interviews, by splicing in fake audio to change the words coming out of someone’s mouth. This makes it appear that a trusted figure has said something different than what was originally said.
Anticipating the ever-growing challenge consumers face in distinguishing real from digitally manipulated content, McAfee Labs, the innovation and threat intelligence arm at McAfee, has developed an advanced AI model trained to detect AI-generated audio. McAfee’s Project Mockingbird technology uses a combination of AI-powered contextual, behavioural, and categorical detection models to identify whether the audio in a video is likely AI-generated.
With a 90% accuracy rate currently, McAfee can detect and protect against AI content created for malicious “cheapfakes” or deepfakes, providing unmatched protection capabilities to consumers, it claims.
Says Steve Grobman, Chief Technology Officer at McAfee:
“With McAfee’s latest AI detection capabilities, we will provide customers a tool which operates at more than 90% accuracy to help people understand their digital world and assess the likelihood of content being different than it seems.”
“The use cases for this AI detection technology are far-ranging and will prove invaluable to consumers amidst a rise in AI-generated scams and disinformation. With McAfee’s deepfake audio detection capabilities, we’ll be putting the power of knowing what is real or fake directly into the hands of consumers.
“We’ll help consumers avoid ‘cheapfake’ scams where a cloned celebrity is claiming a new limited-time giveaway, and also make sure consumers know instantaneously when watching a video about a presidential candidate, whether it’s real or AI-generated for malicious purposes.”
You can see Project Mockingbird being used to identify an AI-generated Taylor Switft here:
