Deepfake Tech at Defcon 2024 – Video

So how good are deepfakes these days? A quick look at the latest in deepfake technology turned out to be pretty good. I was in Las Vegas for the Defcon conference, which brings together tens of thousands of computer hackers and cybersecurity professionals. Each year, the conference is made up of several villages that cover everything from social engineering to lockpicking to aviation security and, of course, artificial intelligence. At the AI ​​Village, I met Brandon Kovacs, a member of the top red team at cybersecurity firm Bishop Fox. He used only a gaming computer, a DSLR camera, a green screen, some basic studio lighting, and some fun wigs and other props. He and his AI model were able to create some pretty convincing deepfakes, with volunteers morphing into everyone from his coworkers to politicians. And I watched the AI ​​transform me first into Keanu Reeves and then into Jackie Chan. I then had the chance to play with the software myself, fine-tuning the face-swapping software. That means the deepfake’s digital mask fits perfectly to the person it’s transforming into. Kovach says the idea behind the demonstration is to show people that deepfakes exist, as well as to create examples that AI models used for deepfake detection can learn from.