Cover Image for It is estimated that artificial intelligence deepfakes will cause losses of 40 billion dollars by 2027.
Thu Jan 16 2025

It is estimated that artificial intelligence deepfakes will cause losses of 40 billion dollars by 2027.

BlackBerry warns about the rising attacks on critical infrastructure and the increasing use of deepfakes.

The most relevant concerns in the field of cybersecurity are attacks on critical infrastructure and the use of deepfakes, according to Blackberry's Global Threat Intelligence report. Between July and September 2024, nearly 600,000 attacks targeting this infrastructure were recorded, with the financial sector being the most affected, accounting for 45% of the attacks. Health organizations have also been a significant target, representing 30% of incidents, while government services suffered 17% of the attacks.

The inability to allow for downtime makes these industries more likely to pay ransoms to quickly restore their systems, making them attractive targets for cybercriminals. Additionally, the increased use of artificial intelligence has led to a notable rise in attacks, particularly highlighting deepfake fraud. This type of scam uses AI-generated images, videos, or voices to impersonate executives or infiltrate companies, with projections indicating that they could result in losses of up to $40 billion by 2027.

The use of deepfakes is eroding trust and presents an unprecedented challenge, as stakeholders can no longer fully rely on the authenticity of communications from executives. This has led to an urgent call for the implementation of regulatory frameworks, such as the No Fraud AI Act in the U.S. and Canadian legislation on non-consensual media.

Additionally, ransomware groups continue to influence the threat landscape, with notorious organizations like LockBit and ALPHV operating silently yet lethally, evading detection.

Ismael Valenzuela, Vice President of Threat Research and Intelligence at Blackberry, stated that the attack landscape has expanded considerably, with threat actors and nation-states engaging in cyber espionage attacks, while ransomware groups are refining their strategies. However, he also emphasized that the industry has never been better prepared, as it possesses the right tools and protocols to protect itself and mitigate the impacts of attacks, thereby adapting to changes in the threat actors' methodologies.