"Deepfakes" are digitally altered images that make incidents appear real when they are not. Such altered files could have broad implications for politics.; Credit: /Marcus Marritt for NPR

Sophisticated fake media hasn't emerged as a factor in the disinformation wars in the ways once feared — and two specialists say it may have missed its moment.

Deceptive video and audio recordings, often nicknamed "deepfakes," have been the subject of sustained attention by legislators and technologists, but so far have not been employed to decisive effect, said two panelists at a video conference convened on Wednesday by NATO.

One speaker borrowed Sherlock Holmes' reasoning about the significance of something that didn't happen.

"We've already passed the stage at which they would have been most effective," said Keir Giles, a Russia specialist with the Conflict Studies Research Centre in the United Kingdom. "They're the dog that never barked."

The perils of deepfakes in political interference have been discussed too often and many people have become too familiar with them, Giles said during the online discussion, hosted by NATO's Strategic Communications Centre of Excellence.

Following all the reports and revelations about election interference in the West since 2016, citizens know too much to be hoodwinked in the way a fake video might once have fooled large numbers of people, he argued: "They no longer have the power to shock."

Tim Hwang, director of the Harvard-MIT Ethics and Governance of AI Initiative, agreed that deepfakes haven't proven as dangerous as once feared, although for different reasons.

Hwang argued that users of "active measures" (efforts to sow misinformation and influence public opinion) can be much more effective with cheaper, simpler and just as devious types of fakes — mis-captioning a photo or turning it into a meme, for example.

Influence specialists working for Russia and other governments also imitate Americans on Facebook, for another example, worming their way into real Americans' political activities to amplify disagreements or, in some cases, try to persuade people not to vote.

Other researchers have suggested this work continues on social networks and has become more difficult to detect.

Defense is stronger than attack

Hwang also observed that the more deepfakes are made, the better machine learning becomes at detecting them.

A very sophisticated, real-looking fake video might still be effective in a political context, he acknowledged — and at a cost to create of around $10,000, it would be easily within the means of a government's active measures specialists.

But the risks of attempting a major disruption with such a video may outweigh an adversary's desire to use one. People may be too media literate, as Giles argued, and the technology to detect a fake may mean it can be deflated too swiftly to have an effect, as Hwang said.

"I tend to be skeptical these will have a large-scale impact over time," he said.

One technology boss told NPR in an interview last year that years' worth of work on corporate fraud protection systems has given an edge to detecting fake media.

"This is not a static field. Obviously, on our end we've performed all sorts of great advances over this year in advancing our technology, but these synthetic voices are advancing at a rapid pace," said Brett Beranek, head of security business for the technology firm Nuance. "So we need to keep up."

Beranek described how systems developed to detect telephone fraudsters could be applied to verify the speech in a fake clip of video or audio.

Corporate clients that rely on telephone voice systems must be wary about people attempting to pose as others with artificial or disguised voices. Beranek's company sells a product that helps to detect them and that countermeasure also works well in detecting fake audio or video.

Machines using neural networks can detect known types of synthetic voices. Nuance also says it can analyze a recording of a real known voice — say, that of a politician — and then contrast its characteristics against a suspicious recording.

Although the world of cybersecurity is often described as one in which attackers generally have an edge over defenders, Beranek said he thought the inverse was true in terms of this kind of fraud detection.

"For the technology today, the defense side is significantly ahead of the attack side," he said.

Shaping the battlefield

Hwang and Giles acknowledged in the NATO video conference that deepfakes likely will proliferate and become lower in cost to create, perhaps becoming simple enough to make with a smartphone app.

One prospective response is the creation of more of what Hwang called "radioactive data" — material earmarked in advance so that it might make a fake easier to detect.

If images of a political figure were so tagged beforehand, they could be spotted quickly if they were incorporated by computers into a deceptive video.

Also, the sheer popularity of new fakes, if that is what happens, might make them less valuable as a disinformation weapon. More people could become more familiar with them, as well as being detectable by automated systems — plus they may also have no popular medium on which to spread.

Big social media platforms already have declared affirmatively that they'll take down deceptive fakes, Hwang observed. That might make it more difficult for a scenario in which a politically charged fake video went viral just before Election Day.

"Although it might get easier and easier to create deepfakes, a lot of the places where they might spread most effectively, your Facebooks and Twitters of the world, are getting a lot more aggressive about taking them down," Hwang said.

That won't stop them, but it might mean they'll be relegated to sites with too few users to have a major effect, he said.

"They'll percolate in these more shady areas."

This content is from Southern California Public Radio. View the original story at SCPR.org.

Shares of WPX Energy traded 25% higher after President Trump tweeted that he expected a deal between Russia and Saudi Arabia to scale back oil production.

Researchers have developed a straightforward approach to help small to medium enterprises (SMEs) analyse their energy use and increase efficiency. They tested the methodology on 280 businesses in Europe, which, as a result, invested more than €10m in energy-saving measures. The measures reduced energy use by 6 500 toe (tonnes of oil equivalent) per year and avoided 13 500 tonnes of CO2 emissions.

Make your audio meetings are more inclusive, easier to participate in and easier to manage. With HD quality voice, noise suppression and voice separation, our new BT MeetMe with Dolby Voice service takes audio conferencing to a different level. And because this is an IP call, it complements your Unified Communications strategy. Integrating with Cisco WebEx and Microsoft Lync, so that you can use it with what you have already invested in and save money on access costs.

Facebook has revealed that it removed a network of 37 Facebook accounts, 32 Pages, 11 Groups and 42 Instagram accounts that originated in India and used fake accounts masquerading as media outlets to target the Gulf region, the US, the UK and Canada.

Anthony Joshua's promoter Eddie Hearn says he does not want to stage the world heavyweight champion's next defence of his title behind closed doors.

The oil-price war may be over, but the effects are still rippling through the market.

Saudi Arabia is now indicating it's determined to do whatever it takes to support an oil price recovery.

This week: Historic homes with gruesome backstories, a woman wages war against rodents and Martha Stewart pays her respects to American crafters.

Celebrity dog trainer Cesar Millan and Audible have partnered to offer audiobooks for dogs.

Beyoncé ended the year on a sour note with members of the NASA community.

It's the company's first foray into electrics — a sporty hatchback A3 — and it's coming to the U.S. early next year.

Learn how a home energy audit can save big money in monthly energy bills

So what exactly are these online audio book rental services and will you get benefit from them?. Read on and find out the answers for your questions...

Are audio books expensive? Well, it's a tough question. What kind of audio books - downloaded audio books, audio books on CD or books on tape, which titles? And compared to what - the old fashioned book or to other audio titles? Let us examine the prices and then take a look at the factors that affect the price of audio books...

This article will familiarize your with the technology behind audio surveillance. What phone bugs there exist? How is it possible for parents to spy on their teens and even know where they are at them moment with unsusceptible gadgets.

Content marketing is one of the most potent forms of online communication. Producing articles, videos and graphics give you a chance to showcase your expertise in an area and establish yourself as an authority. However, if your items aren’t on topic, you risk losing your audience and any chance to make posts viral.  In a […]

BlogPress.

Using probably the World's Smallest Heart Rate Sensing Technology (ActivHearts)

Award Honors Work in Audio Description with National Park Service

Created out of the want to inspire Claudie Boy and Rachael Yvonne Davis will engage in Twitter/InstaChat discussing humble beginnings, going pro and his extremely popular mini-doc "Deeper than boxing."

The Enterprise Technology Management Association Giving Back award supports ETMA's mission of enhancing the category image for industry participants and humanizing its members.

Members Recognize AMI Strategies and Auditmacs for Philanthropic Efforts

DGI Communications continues growth as they join the wave of AV industry consolidation and expansion.

As more companies learn of the high-quality, attractively metal cable glands and accessories from HJSI Connector the manufacturer's sales are being made into new countries. The latest breakthrough was a large order delivered to a client in Saudi Ara

Ondesoft Software offers giveaway of Ondesoft Audio Recorder and a 50% discount on iTunes DRM Audio/Video Converter for both Mac and Windows during 2017 Halloween season.

New Mobile Application Provided by Hancock Software

ABC Foundations is a drug-free educational remediation center that offers services to children with learning and academic difficulties. Some children struggle with learning and academics due to delay at the brain stem level known as NDD.

Synensys, LLC was selected by the U.S. Air Force (USAF) Air Mobility Command (AMC) to serve as the prime contractor for the Line Operations Safety Audit (LOSA) program.

Several news articles have been published in recent years reporting that a trend of Arab States nationals have been fleeing America after being released from jail and surrendering passports while awaiting trial for serious criminal allegations.

Patent Covers Ability for Replacing a Portion of Video Broadcast Audio With a Customized, Live-Streaming Alternate Media Stream

Technology is transforming accounting. Are you ready?

Inside Xbox events include audio description for blind, visually impaired

Earlier this month, a criminal investigation that began more than a year ago by the Palm Beach County Sheriff's Office's Financial Crime Unit in West Palm Beach, Florida ended in the arrest of a used car salesman.

Synensys will collect, analyze, and report critical operational safety data for continuous improvement using the proven LOSA methodology.

Claudia Scheibel is a Venue Consultant at Global Cynergies where she spearheads sales, negotiation and consulting.

Audition registration for NJYS' 15 ensembles including strings, winds, percussion, jazz, chamber music, and three full orchestras is available online April 1-May 10. Audition requirements and more information can be found at www.NJYS.org.

Dr. Claudia Rozuk, M.D. has been recognized by the International Association of Who's Who with the Albert Einstein Award of Medicine.

There is a great opportunity for government contractors to save on sales or use taxes paid for consumables used on government contracts. The U.S. Government is not subject to sales/use tax, however, government contractors typically pay tax on their consumable purchases. Government contractors may be paying tax on many of their overhead purchases needlessly. Sales...

The post Reverse Audits for Government Contractors appeared first on Anders CPA.

To help celebrate its 60th anniversary, the Guggenheim Museum teamed up with 99% Invisible to offer visitors a guided audio experience of the museum. Even if you've never been to the Guggenheim Museum, you probably recognize it. From the outside, the building is a light gray spiral, and from the inside, the art is displayed on one long ramp that curves up towards a glass skylight in the ceiling. We’re going to take the greatness of this building as a given. What we’re going to focus on are the oddities, the accretions, the interventions that reveal a different kind of genius. Not just the genius of Frank Lloyd Wright, and his bold, original vision, but the genius of all the people that made this building function, adapt, and grow over the decades.

Audio Guide to the Imperfections of a Perfect Masterpiece

In this 2020 GDC Virtual Talk, Pixel Reef's Clement Duquesne shares how they crafted the detailed systems that breathe aural life into Paper Beast's animated creatures and dynamic landscapes. ...

In this 2020 GDC Virtual Talk, Pixel Reef's Clement Duquesne shares how they crafted the detailed systems that breathe aural life into Paper Beast's animated creatures and dynamic landscapes. ...

Implementation of KAMs in true spirit will certainly strengthen the faith on Chartered Accountants and also add value to the organization having strong foundation of transparency and corporate governance.

Autocar show: 2020 Audi A8 L First Drive review