Deepfake CAPTCHA: A Method for Preventing Fake Calls

What is it about?

Our study presents Deepfake Captcha, a novel approach for detecting deepfake attacks, particularly in real-time audio communication. Deepfakes are sophisticated fake audio or video clips that impersonate real individuals, often leading to harmful outcomes. Unlike conventional detection methods, our system directly challenges the attacker, asking them to perform tasks that humans find easy, but deepfake models struggle with. For instance clapping hands while talking, singing, or laughing. If the caller is a deepfake, performing these tasks causes noticeable artifacts or inconsistencies in their audio output. Through our research, we demonstrate that this approach improves the effectiveness of different deepfake detectors, offering individuals and organizations enhanced protection against potential security threats.

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Photo by Jefferson Santos on Unsplash

Photo by Jefferson Santos on Unsplash

Why is it important?

Deepfakes, artificial audio or video clips mimicking real people, are becoming an increasing threat to individual privacy and societal security. For instance, an attacker can call a power plant technician, impersonate their superior, and demand changes be made that can disrupt the plant's operation or even cause harm. This is not a far-off possibility but an imminent threat, as deepfakes have already been used for similar malicious activities like fraud and blackmail. The situation becomes even more alarming when we consider real-time deepfakes, which can respond dynamically in conversations, and they are becoming easier to implement. Previous defenses that use passive approaches, analyzing the content to detect deepfakes, have been one step behind in the technological arms race, as the quality of deepfakes is constantly improving to evade detection. Our research introduces an active defense approach - Deepfake Captcha. Instead of just analyzing content, we challenge the deepfake during the conversation, which stresses the attacker's limitations and puts them on the back foot. This proactive approach offers a critical advantage in the battle against deepfake threats and helps safeguard privacy and security in the digital age.