Secret passwords are key to identifying AI deepfakes, expert says
As AI-generated images become more sophisticated, a cyber security expert has said families and friends should create secret passwords in case they ever need to identify a deepfake.
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In the same week that Google unveiled its own AI video generator, a cyber security expert has urged people to plan ahead against the threat of deepfake impersonations.
Cody Barrow, chief executive of cyber security firm EclecticIQ and former US government adviser, says AI is helping to “lower the barrier to entry” for cybercriminals.
Noting the uptick in data breaches in recent years, he says that impersonation scams are becoming easier to create, and people should be taking extra precautions.
A deepfake impersonation scam is when someone creates AI-generated imagery based on someone's likeness, and then uses that image to solicit money or data from a victim.
One of these precautions could be creating a secret password among friends and family - a precaution Mr Barrow says he and his wife have recently taken.
He suggests this is a good catch-all precaution, appropriate for people of any age with any level of digital knowledge.
“In recent months, we have [created] a secret code that we use, that only me or the real her would know,” he says.
“If one of us ever receives a FaceTime video or WhatsApp video that looks and sounds like us, asking for money, asking for help - something very scary - we can use that code to verify that we’re the right person.
“It may sound dramatic here in May 2025, but I’m quite confident that within a number of years, if not months, people will look back and say, absolutely yes, I should have done that.”
Mr Barrow’s recommendation comes as Google announced its own AI video generator, Veo 3, on Friday.
Veo 3, which adds ambience and improvised suggestions to enhance a prompt’s authenticity, marks another step up in AI-generation technology.
The tool is widely available to the general public, and has caused concern with how realistic its dialogue and depiction of people is.
On Monday, US President Donald Trump announced a crackdown on the use of AI deepfakes in the creation of pornography.
Signing a bipartisan bill dubbed the "Take It Down Act", Mr Trump and First Lady Melania enacted a law that will see prison sentences for those who create and upload deepfake pornography.