The FBI has warned of an uptick in cases where “deepfakes” and stolen personal information are being used to apply for tech jobs in the U.S., reported TechCrunch (June 28).

A deepfake is a video of a person in which their face or body has been digitally altered so that they appear to be someone else, typically used maliciously or to spread false information.

WARNING SIGNS

In this case, the offenders are imitating people whose identities have been stolen to apply for jobs. Complaints report the use of voice spoofing during online interviews of the potential applications.

In these interviews, the actions and lip movement of the person seen interviewed on-camera do not completely coordinate with the audio of the person speaking. Additionally, actions such as coughing, sneezing, or other auditory actions are not aligned with what is presented visually.

HOW IS THIS HAPPENING?

A deepfake can be created by just about anyone who has a good picture or two of a person. The pictures can be used to record a fake video of the person talking. It can even be done live.

Combined with what seems like legitimate data, this could be enough for rushed hiring manager to mistakenly sign one of these personas on.

WHY IS THIS HAPPENING?

There are several reasons a hacker may take on a deepfake to apply for jobs.

For example, they could be unable to work in the U.S. but want to be paid in dollars. They could also want access to the data visible only to employees of that company.

The FBI wrote that “some reported positions include access to customer PII, financial data, corporate IT databases and/or proprietary information.”

This is not the first time something like this has been reported. However, the difference is that now there is now AI-powered imagery to help get though a remote, virtual interview process.

In other hiring news…

Remote work may actually be declining.

In October 2021, almost 18% of job postings globally were remote work offers, according to a report from Coresignal. In 2022, it acquired a slightly negative trend, confirming various reports that more and more companies are resisting the remote job model, reported Cybernews (June 15).

Compared to Europe, North America has a slightly higher remote work share, hovering around 12%. In Europe, less than 10% of postings offer remote jobs.