One of the phenomena triggered by the AI boom in recent years is deepfakes. The term is made up of the words deep learning and fake. Deep learning refers to machine learning methods, while a fake is a forgery, an imitation or a hoax. A deepfake is therefore a forgery created with the help of AI processes. These can be fake computer-generated photos of known people, images, or videos in which faces have been replaced with others, or even voice recordings or messages in which a known voice says phrases that it has never actually uttered. Such forgeries of images, videos, and sound recordings have always existed. However, thanks to AI technology, these fakes are now near perfect and difficult to distinguish from authentic recordings. What’s more, the required software is available to everyone and is often even offered as a web service meaning anyone can create deepfakes nowadays. High potential for misuse AI applications for creating deepfakes are often advertised as software that can be used to play tricks on other people. But in fact, such programs are often misused by criminals. They utilize the possibilities of AI for these scams. For example: They use AI to perfect the grandchild trick. To do this, they call their victims using the AI-generated voices of relatives, describe an emergency such as an accident and ask for immediate financial support. In a video, they put a phrase into the mouth of a politician that they have never said, in an attempt to influence public opinion. You have a celebrity advertise a product without their knowledge or consent. Customers who then order this product are either ripped off with an inflated price or never receive the goods. Recognizing deepfake images When the deepfake scams began, consumers could only protect themselves from being ripped off by criminals by looking or listening carefully. This is because the AI often works inaccurately and many details are misrepresented or unrealistic. However, other AI applications soon appeared on the web that examined images and videos precisely for these errors and also included color patterns and textures in their analyses. A whole range of such programs are now available. Many of them are free of charge. The user uploads an image or video to a website and the AI analyses it and tells the user whether it’s a deepfake or not. The University at Buffalo’s Deepfake-o-Meter recognizes deepfakes in images, videos and audio files using 16 programs from the open source scene. In the test, however, the performance of the tools was not convincing.IDG Probably the most comprehensive deepfake detection tool on the web comes from the University at Buffalo in the US state of New York. The Deepfake-o-Meter project, developed there by a team at the Media Forensic Laboratory, brings together 16 AI recognition programs from the open source scene and feeds them with images, videos, and audio files uploaded by users. After a few seconds, the tools present their results and state the probability that an uploaded medium is an AI-generated deepfake. To gain access to the Deepfake-o-Meter, all you need to do is register for free with your e-mail address. This gives the user 30 credits for using the service; a single query costs one credit. For a small test, we first uploaded what is probably the most famous deepfake image in the world, the photo of the late Pope Francis in a white down jacket created with Midjourney. However, only two services from the Deepfake-o-Meter repertoire gave a probability of more than 50 per cent that the photo was fake. None of the recognition programs used by Deepfake-o-Meter identified the image of Pope Francis in a white down coat as a reliable deepfake. Other AI images were also not reliably recognized.IDG In a second test, we had the Canva.com portrait generator generate the image of a woman. This time, seven of the sixteen AI tools recognised the deepfake. This image of a woman generated with Canva.com was also only recognized as AI-generated by some of the detectors of the Deepfake-o-Meter.IDG The AI recognition of the French company Sightengine works much faster than the Deepfake-o-Meter tools. In the test, it recognized the photo almost immediately after it was uploaded. For the portrait of a woman created with Canva.com, it gave a probability of 99 per cent that it was an AI-generated image. However, this program also produced inconclusive results when it came to the picture of the Pope—according to Sightengine, the probability of a deepfake was 53 percent. In the case of the image of the Pope in a white down jacket, Sightengine’s AI is not sure whether it is a deepfake or not.IDG Recognize deepfake images by these details Deepfake detectors such as Sightengine are important tools for identifying fake photos. In many cases, however, it’s also possible to recognize with the naked eye that an image doesn’t reflect reality—the devil is often in the details. One of the biggest problems for AI is the representation of human fingers. The programs are shown millions of photos during training, many of which show hands and fingers. However, the hands are often incomplete. In a photo of a handshake, for example, only three fingers are visible in most cases. In other pictures, some fingers are in a pocket or are completely or partially covered by objects. This deepfake of Donald Trump was shared by a fan on Facebook during the election campaign. The depiction of the fingers is incorrect – a common problem. And the writing on the cap is illegible. IDG As the AI does not know how many fingers a person has, it deduces from these photos that the number and length can vary. Accordingly, it provides some hands with more or fewer fingers or gives them fingers of different lengths and sizes. The AI programs also struggle with arms and legs. The limbs are often not in the right place or cannot be assigned to a person. Hair often looks artificial. The strands fall at the wrong angle or cannot be assigned to a person. The programs also often have difficulties with clothing details. Shirts and coats have different buttons, necklaces do not form a closed ring or spectacle frames are deformed. Fonts appear as spidery, illegible characters. There are often incorrect shadows in the background, or there are inconsistencies in the proportions. In the image of the Pope, the shadow does not match the frame of the spectacles, and the crucifix is hanging on a chain only on one side.Reddit Recognizing deepfake videos with AI software The creation of deepfake videos took a huge leap forward last year with the introduction of the Sora video generator from Open AI. The films look so real that they can hardly be distinguished from real videos. You can find large quantities of amazingly realistic-looking films on YouTube made with this new technology. Free AI video detectors are Deepware.ai and the AI detector from Hive. Both are designed as web applications. Deepware.ai is completely free, while the basic version of Hive only accepts videos up to 20 seconds in length. We uploaded some Sora videos to both websites to see how they performed. The result with Deepware was disappointing: the program did not recognize the deepfakes in any of our examples. The Hive detector’s results on the other hand were quite different: it indicated a deepfake probability of 99 per cent for all Sora films. The Hive detector was able to clearly classify the films created with the Sora video generator from ChatGPT manufacturer Open AI as AI-generated. IDG Recognizing AI-generated texts At first glance, texts generated with chatbots such as ChatGPT or Google Gemini cannot be distinguished from those written by human authors. Grammar and spelling are perfect, and factual errors are rarely found in fictional texts. However, the style gives it away. Chatbots tend to formulate their sentences in a consistent length and structure. Humans, on the other hand, are concerned with variation and variety in their texts so as not to create a monotonous and boring reading rhythm. In addition, AI texts often do not provide examples of the facts they present. They also do not provide specific details and do not include nuances and considerations. You can now find AI detectors on the Internet that analyze input text for the aforementioned characteristics of AI texts. Scribbr is a free AI detector that understands French, Spanish, Dutch and German, as well as English. Isgen.ai can handle several dozen more languages, but is only free in the basic version. With the freemium offer, you can have up to 12,000 words per month analyzed in a maximum of 50 queries after registering. The AI detector Scribbr can analyze English texts on request to see whether they were formulated by an artificial intelligence. However, the program’s results are not error-free.Sam Singleton Recognize deepfake videos by all of the fine details Deepfake videos often have the same errors as AI-generated photos: texts are illegible, details are illogical or impossible in reality. For example, the shadows are often incorrect and hair does not appear to have a fixed connection to a head. The design of the background does not match the rest of the film either. Finally, it’s noticeable in many cases that the people in the film are shown with a higher resolution than their surroundings. There are also some typical details that only occur in moving images. For example, the people in the videos often move unnaturally slowly and appear to be in a kind of trance. In addition, their faces often show no facial expressions and they do not blink. To recognize this, however, you sometimes have to reduce the playback speed of the film. Recognizing deepfake audio with tools and details With software such as Real Time Voice Cloning, it’s now possible to create a deepfake voice from a recording that is only a few seconds long. This can read out any text in the voice of another person. However, the technology is not yet perfect. In various studies, the test subjects were able to distinguish the artificial voice from the real voice in two thirds of all cases. However, the quality is already so good that criminals have been able to successfully scam people with emergency calls using fake voices. For now, products that promise to unmask fake voices are mainly from English-speaking countries. The security company McAfee, for example, has introduced the Deepfake Detector, which detects artificially generated voices in videos and audio files. It’s available on all PCs with Intel Core Ultra 200V processors. Companies such as Resemble.ai and AI Voice Detector have already developed applications for companies. The Hiya AI Voice Detector is another option that is currently free of charge. It’s designed as a Chrome extension and analyzes voice recordings on websites. It actually worked surprisingly well in the test. SMS analysis with Bitdefender Scamio Criminal gangs are increasingly trying to lure users to websites where they are supposed to enter their personal data with emergency calls and offers via SMS. Security manufacturer Bitdefender has developed Scamio, a service that uses AI tools to analyze suspicious emails, links and text messages for phishing attempts and other criminal intentions. Bitdefender Scamio accepts texts of all kinds and uses AI to analyze them for signs that they are spam or phishing attempts.Sam Singleton Read...

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Want to upgrade your home PC or laptop setup? Maybe think outside the box, beyond the specs of your machine. Maybe what you need is a leveled-up monitor! You’d be surprised what a difference it can make going from 1080p to 4K. And right now, you can make that leap for not much money at all—this 32-inch Samsung ViewFinity UJ59 is only $250 right now on Amazon thanks to a 26% discount. Samsung’s monitor is perfect for everyday browsing, streaming, and work. The 32-inch size is bigger than your typical 21-inch and 27-inch options, and the impressive 3840×2160 (4K) resolution is a huge step up from the more conventional 1080p you’re used to. It also has built-in upscaling technology that can automatically convert lower-resolution media up to 4K on the fly. The 60Hz refresh rate keeps this from being a full-blown gaming monitor, but it’s fine for light and casual fare. Some minor downsides include: VA panel (less color accurate and vibrant than an IPS panel), lack of USB-C (though it does have dual HDMI and a DisplayPort), no VESA mount (so no mounting to a monitor arm), and a stand that doesn’t offer many points of adjustment. Still, a 4K monitor by Samsung for this cheap is a pretty great deal if you’ve been on an old 1080p for a while. This price won’t last forever, though, so grab this 4K Samsung display for $250 while you can! Snag this 32-inch 4K Samsung monitor for only $250Buy now at Amazon Read...

In 1924, an innocuous American house might’ve hidden a speakeasy, slinging illegal booze to thirsty patrons during Prohibition. In 2020, you might’ve found the same house hiding dozens of Bitcoin miners. But in 2024, an American house hid a data center run by hackers operating it remotely from North Korea—and the US resident who took the job to keep it ticking is going to prison. After a federal investigation and arrest, Christina Chapman will serve 8.5 years in prison, followed by three years of supervised release and paying back hundreds of thousands of dollars in restitution, if possible. Chapman was certainly not unaware of the illicit nature of her activities—”I can go to federal prison for falsifying federal documents,” one of her chat logs correctly notes—but she is arguably, at least partially, a victim herself. 50-year-old Chapman was searching for a remote job that would allow her to take care of her mother who was battling cancer, according to a letter sent to the judge, when she found the opportunity that would result in her arrest. That job was essentially to be a facilitator for yet more remote workers, in reality North Korean agents posing as Americans in hundreds of US companies, stealing both funds and secrets. Through a combination of identity theft and remote access tools like VPNs and proxies, these agents posed as remote workers while operating out of a coordinated operations center in the isolated and heavily sanctioned hermit country. The FBI estimates that the fraud netted $17 million USD by the time it unraveled. United States Department of Justice Ars Technica reports that Chapman’s job was to be the “warm body” on American soil. In addition to receiving and forwarding paychecks, she would take possession of company-issued laptops, sometimes operating them manually out of her home, sometimes sending them to yet more middlemen in China to be passed on to North Korea. When the FBI finally arrested her, there were more than 90 laptops in her home, open and running on racks, operating as an ad hoc data center. Prosecutors said the hackers, employed under false identities, worked for “a top-5 national television network and media company, a premier Silicon Valley technology company, an aerospace and defense manufacturer, an iconic American car manufacturer, a high-end retail chain, and one of the most recognizable media and entertainment companies in the world.” Many were Fortune 500 companies, like Nike. North Korea has a long history of sophisticated hacking, including massive malware operations and directed attacks at other countries and Western corporations. The most visible to ordinary people is probably the infamous hack of Sony Pictures in 2014, apparently carried out in retaliation for the comedy movie The Interview, which depicts a fictional version of North Korean dictator Kim Jong Un. But more recent attacks have focused on lucrative ransomware and deep intelligence operations. The rise of generative “AI” tools has fueled a sophisticated campaign of applying for and receiving jobs posing as remote workers from other countries. There’s a growing list of people who have discovered that their new coworker wasn’t who they pretended to be. Chapman was effusive in her letter to the federal judge before sentencing, thanking the FBI for their work even though it resulted in a lengthy prison stay. “I had been trying to get away from the guys that I was working with for awhile and I wasn’t really sure how to do it… While this wasn’t the ideal way to get away from them, it did indeed get me away from them and I am thankful.” Read...

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At a glanceExpert`s Rating Pros Outstanding industrial design Lots of ingress options—provided you have an iPhone Seamless integration with Apple Home and Home Keys Comes with two NFC fobs Cons Initial setup required multiple re-installs to resolve Only supports 10 PIN codes No backup power feature iOS only Our Verdict A bold design gives this Apple Home-centric smart lock a sophisticated look, but there’s very limited support for non-iPhone users, and installation can be a one-time challenge. Price When Reviewed This value will show the geolocated pricing text for product undefined Best Pricing Today Best Prices Today: Avia Smart Deadbolt+ Retailer Price $299 View Deal Price comparison from over 24,000 stores worldwide Product Price Price comparison from Backmarket Spend enough time in this business and you’ll begin to feel like you’ve seen everything. After reviewing more than 80 smart locks to date, I was sure that there were no more design or functionality stones left to overturn in this segment of the smart home market. And then along comes Avia. A European brand newly available in the U.S., Avia is an altogether different concept in smart locks no matter which way you look at it. So, let’s start with its design. While the Avia Smart Deadbolt+ is a standard smart lock that replaces both exterior and interior escutcheons, you won’t notice it from the outside, at least from a distance. Externally, the lock—which is available in black and satin nickel—looks a lot like a traditional, non-smart device (or for that matter, a Level Lock+ smart lock): Its circular escutcheon is just barely larger than the borehole it fits into, and there’s a keyhole in its center. Look closely, however, and you’ll find 10 physical number buttons arranged along the top of lock, arranged in two rows of five. You need to pay extra to get an exterior PIN pad for a Level Lock. The PIN pad on the Avia Smart Deadbolt+ makes it one of the most unique smart locks on the market. Christopher Null/Foundry A plastic-covered sensor hides beneath the lock, nearly invisible to the casual observer. Press one of the buttons on the keypad and the numerals light up in color (in the hue of your choice), along with the Avia logo, which appears on both sides of the device, providing a postmodern vibe to an otherwise classic-looking lock. The Avia Smart Deadbolt+ boasts outstanding design and smooth operation, provided you’re an iPhone user. While the exterior effect is striking, the interior escutcheon is far more traditional (and very much unlike a Level Lock). It’s a squat rectangle in two-tone silver and black with a simple thumb turn, powered by four AA batteries under a plastic panel. Note that there is no external port for emergency power. Avia says fresh cells will last for up to 18 months. The manufacturer also says its lock meets the highest level of ANSI and BHMA testing but that it is still awaiting formal certifications. Installation and setup The lock goes together somewhat unusually, thanks to the inclusion of a second mounting frame that fits on the inside of the door. This is an additional plastic frame upon which a smaller metal frame sits, both of which are sandwiched together with the exterior escutcheon via two small bolts. (The need for this second frame isn’t explained in the lock’s documentation.) The exterior escutcheon has two electrical connectors: One connects to the interior motor unit, as expected, but the other attaches to a port on one of the frames. This all might be more intuitive if Avia included a printed instruction manual; unfortunately, your only educational option is to follow one of Avia’s online videos or go step-by-step with the Avia app. I found getting everything seated properly to be a bit more complicated than the typical lock I’ve reviewed, thanks to the extra mounting frame and that second cable; but for the most part, it was a straightforward installation—or so I thought (more on that later). You’ll need an iPhone to set up the Avia Smart Deadbolt+, but non-iPhone users will be able to open the door if you give them one of the included NFC keyfobs.Christopher Null/Foundry The Avia Smart Deadbolt+ supports Matter over Thread, but it currently works with iOS exclusively, being designed entirely around Apple HomeKit and Apple’s Home Key technology. If you don’t already have an iOS home hub (e.g., an Apple TV, HomePod, HomePod mini), Avia says you can use the lock directly over Bluetooth. But there’s really no point in purchasing this lock if you don’t also have one of those three devices, as you’ll miss out on many of the lock’s features—along with any kind of remote accessibility. Setup is very much in line with standard HomeKit configurations, and while you can set the lock up directly in iOS Home, you’re well advised to use Avia’s app to get started, beginning with scanning the QR code printed on the inside of the battery cover. I had to run through the scan-and-wait process a couple of times before it completed successfully; otherwise, the process was straightforward. Using the Avia Smart Deadbolt+ Once configured, Avia’s lock offers a robust collection of access methods, including the previously mentioned numeric keypad and a bevy of “smart” ways to open the door. The lock is compatible with Apple Home Key, so once it’s installed and configured, you can just tap your iPhone or Apple Watch on the lock to open it—you don’t need to open the app on your phone. The PIN pad and the Avia logo both light up in your choice from millions of colors.Christopher Null/Foundry Users without an iPhone can use one of the two included NFC fobs to do the same trick; these are easily enrolled within the Avia app. You can even unlock the door with a Siri voice command—after you authenticate yourself on your iPhone. One restriction of note: While you can share Home Key access with as many users as you’d like, the Avia Smart Deadbolt+ supports only 10 PIN codes and six key fobs (two of these are included with the lock). PIN and fob access must be configured through the Avia app directly. PINs can be restricted based on a schedule (recurring or otherwise), but fobs have 24/7 access. Home Key access must be granted through the iOS Home app. There is no facility for one-time access codes. The lock has just a few other features, including auto-locking (delayed by up to 4 minutes) and the PIN pad lighting effects I mentioned earlier. These are configured via a color wheel in the app. You can also select a two-digit code to lock the door from the outside, a step made necessary by the absence of a “lock” button on the exterior escutcheon. A robust logging system (see the screenshot above) keeps track of every lock and unlock operation. The understated design of the Avia Smart Deadbolt+’s exterior escutcheon is surpassed only by that of the Level Lock+Avia Smart The Avia Smart Deadbolt+ is a nifty device, except for one rather big and bizarre anomaly I encountered right after I finished setting it up; namely, the lock wouldn’t open unless I had the physical key in its cylinder, and I could only remove the key from the lock when it was in the locked position. Any attempt to unlock the lock without the key resulted in a jam, no matter how I tried to open it, including physically turning the interior thumb turn. I asked Avia about this and the company suggested the lock had either been installed with the spindle the wrong way or with the deadbolt not retracted, but upon disassembly, everything looked as though it was installed correctly. Nevertheless, after several more reassemblies and resets of the lock, carefully following Avia’s emailed instructions, I did finally get it working properly. All told it was a frustrating situation, but perhaps just a fluke since it was eventually resolved. Should you buy the Avia Smart Deadbolt+? Apart from than that significant setup hiccup, the Avia Smart Deadbolt+ works well, and its design is outstanding. The lock operates smoothly and reasonably quietly, the keypad is responsive, and every one of its means of electronic access worked flawlessly and nearly instantly in my testing. The robust Home Key support is really a game-changer, since you don’t need to open an app or even have your phone with you—as long as you’re wearing your Apple Watch. Needing to open an app or tap in a code to get into the house becomes tedious over time. At $299, however, the lock is very high-priced, especially given its limitations. For that kind of outlay, I’d expect flawless operation right out of the box, more robust user support, and a USB-C port for emergency power. All that said, it’s still $30 cheaper than the Level Lock+ that is its closest competitor. This review is part of TechHive’s in-depth coverage of the best smart locks. Read...

According to a report by Enders Analysis, Amazon streaming devices such as the Fire TV Stick are increasingly being used for piracy. Research shows that more than half of all people in the UK who have used illegal streaming services this year have done so using an Amazon product. This is piracy on an “industrial scale,” with Amazon being accused of enabling the consumption of pirated content through inaction and weak security measures. A complete overhaul of Fire TV Sticks is necessary to prevent illegal use, according to Enders Analysis. How are Fire TV Sticks used illegally? Amazon’s Fire TV Stick is meant to provide quick plug-and-play access to streaming services such as Prime Video and Netflix, with users merely needing to plug the device in a TV’s HDMI port to get it working. With simple modifications, however, the device can also be used to access illegal live streams from paid TV providers and sports networks. To make matters worse, these modified Fire TV Sticks can apparently be purchased for quite cheap on the black market. Last year, for example, several men were caught and sentenced to prison for selling such modified streaming devices, as reported by The Independent. Despite TV networks and streaming services losing billions in revenue every year due to this and similar practices, some still think that companies like Amazon aren’t treating the issue seriously enough. How does Amazon feel about it? In a statement, Amazon told The Independent that it was “vigilant in [their] efforts to combat piracy” and had already “made changes to Fire Sticks to deter people from streaming illegal content.” “Pirated content violates our policies regarding intellectual property rights, and compromises the security and privacy of our customers,” said the Amazon spokesperson. Nevertheless, cases of piracy still seem to be occurring and some studies show that more and more users are consuming illegal streaming content, particularly in Europe. Google, Microsoft, Meta also under fire Amazon isn’t the only company to be criticized, with other major technology companies—including Google, Microsoft and Meta—also named in the report. They’re accused of contributing to the problem, primarily through inaction. How exactly content providers should tackle the growing piracy problem remains unclear, however. Above all, perhaps the real issue is that legitimate users of streaming services are faced with a fragmented market and rising prices, which seems to be making piracy more attractive again. That said, just because piracy is convenient and inexpensive doesn’t mean it’s okay. Would-be pirates should remember that copyright infringement is a crime. Further reading: The best streaming devices to get this year Read...