McAfee's AI Tool, Project Mockingbird Can Detect Deepfakes With 90 Per Cent Accuracy

Amid the growing threat of deepfakes flooding online, cybersecurity firm McAfee announced its AI-powered Deepfake Audio Detection technology.

The AI-powered tool, Project Mockingbird, was unveiled at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas.

McAfee

How reliable is Project Mockingbird?

According to McAfee, its tool can identify fabricated and AI-generated audio with over 90 per cent accuracy.

¡°With McAfee¡¯s latest AI detection capabilities, we will provide customers a tool that operates at more than 90% accuracy to help people understand their digital world and assess the likelihood of content being different than it seems,¡± said Steve Grobman, Chief Technology Officer, McAfee.

¡°So, much like a weather forecast indicating a 70% chance of rain helps you plan your day, our technology equips you with insights to make educated decisions about whether content is what it appears to be.¡±

How deepfake audio scams work

McAfee said that Project Mockingbird can protect people from online frauds by cybercriminals using AI-generated audios to carry out scams that rob people of money and personal information, enable cyberbullying, and manipulate the public image of prominent figures.

UNSPLASH

McAfee noted that 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.

Threat of deepfakes to customers

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 or known figure has said something different than what was originally stated.

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 industry-leading advanced AI model trained to detect AI-generated audio.

SCIENCE PLUS

How Project Mockingbird detects deepfakes

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 current 90% accuracy rate, McAfee can detect and protect against AI content that has been created for malicious ¡°cheap fakes¡± or deep fakes, providing unmatched protection capabilities to consumers.

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If you see this video in your social media feed, we can confirm that it is a #deepfake scam generated through #AI.
McAfee's Project Mockingbird technology announced at #CES2024, is designed to empower¡­ pic.twitter.com/aVpcjI0Pgk

¡ª McAfee (@McAfee) January 10, 2024

¡°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. This takes protection in the age of AI to a whole new level. We aim to give users the clarity and confidence to navigate the nuances in our new AI-driven world, to protect their online privacy and identity, and well-being,¡± Grobman said.

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