- NordStellar discovered 924 dark‑web posts about deepfakes‑as‑a‑service (DFaaS) Jan–Might 2026, up 39% yr‑on‑yr
- Rising curiosity pushed by generative AI advances, enabling hyper‑lifelike “pretend boss” scams and decreasing obstacles for attackers
- Experts urge prevention by way of worker schooling and monitoring for leaked firm information to cut back danger of focused deepfake assaults
The curiosity in deepfakes-as-a-service (DFaaS) amongst criminals is rising, and the cybersecurity neighborhood is apprehensive it would possibly fuel the next wave of “pretend boss” scams.
That is in response to a new report from risk publicity administration platform, NordStellar. Analyzing discussions on the dark web, the researchers discovered that between January and Might this yr, there have been 924 posts about DFaaS, up 39% in comparison with the similar interval final yr, when there have been 663 related posts.
“The fast development in recognition of deepfakes as a service is probably going accelerated by developments in generative AI, which assist cybercriminals in two methods — by dashing up the creation of deepfakes and making them hyper-realistic,” says Vakaris Noreika, cybersecurity professional at NordStellar. “In the end, this service lowers the barrier to entry for deepfake know-how, enabling risk actors to deploy extremely misleading assaults at a bigger scale, regardless of their private technical talent set.”
defend in opposition to convincing deepfake assaults?
Experts are apprehensive the rising curiosity would possibly outcome in extra “pretend boss” scams which, at that, could be much more tough to identify. Enterprise E-mail Compromise (BEC), a “pretend boss” rip-off that primarily makes use of written emails, has for years been amongst the most profitable techniques in the prison underworld. In accordance with the FBI, BEC was the second costliest tactic final yr, with firm losses exceeding $3 billion (up 11% in comparison with 2024).
Defending in opposition to extremely convincing deepfake photos and movies may not be simple, however it definitely isn’t unattainable. Noreika suggests companies ought to deal with prevention and worker schooling, since they can not management whether or not crooks goal them or not.
“The extra particulars and entry attackers receive, the simpler it is for them to craft extremely lifelike, focused assaults,” says Noreika. “Monitoring the dark web for leaked firm data is a important step in stopping cybercriminals from discovering credentials to breach accounts or information to make use of as intel.”
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