You may have heard that hackers are using artificial intelligence as a weapon to extract data and money from unsuspecting businesses.
It’s the latest technique in social engineering spoofing.
Phishing has reached the next level.
What is deepfake ransomware cybercrime?
Cybercriminals deploy deepfake strategies to impersonate executives, suppliers, or trusted partners and manipulate employees into transferring funds, revealing credentials, or deploying malware that leads to ransomware infection.
How worried should IT executives be about deepfake ransomware?
How are deepfake ransomware attacks actually carried out?
Attackers harvest publicly available data such as earnings calls, webinars, LinkedIn videos, conference recordings etc.
This data is then fed into AI voice or video models. Even a few minutes of clear speech can be sufficient for voice cloning.
The attacker studies internal processes (often through prior phishing or data breaches) to understand approval workflows, financial controls, and reporting lines.
A deepfake call or video message is initiated, usually framed as urgent and confidential. Common narratives include acquisition activity, regulatory pressure, or sensitive vendor payments.
What practical steps can IT executives take to prevent deepfake ransomware?
Implement mandatory multi-channel verification
Never allow financial transfers or privileged access to be authorised through a single technological channel.
Create strict, documented procedures for executive-level financial requests. For example: all urgent payment requests must be verified through a secondary known contact method and logged in a ticketing system.
Enforce phishing-resistant MFA
Eliminate SMS-based MFA for privileged accounts.
Educate Finance and Operations Teams
Deepfake attacks target people, not firewalls. Train staff specifically on synthetic media risk. Encourage a culture where verification is expected—even when the request appears to come from the CEO.
Limit Public Audio/Video Exposure Where Sensible
While public communication is necessary, be strategic about releasing high-fidelity executive recordings. Consider watermarking or monitoring misuse of executive likeness.
Deploy Behavioural and Anomaly Detection
Modern EDR and XDR platforms can detect unusual login behaviour, lateral movement, and privilege escalation — often before ransomware is executed.
Test Incident Response Against Social Engineering Scenarios
Red-team exercises should now include synthetic impersonation scenarios, not just phishing simulations.
Speak With Our Cybersecurity Consultants In London
For the time being, IT executives shouldn’t be too worried about deepfake AI impersonation. However, as hackers become more sophisticated, you should keep an eye on AI-generated cyber attacks.
For IT executives, protecting your business against cybercriminals is ultimately a resilience issue. The question is no longer whether deepfake capability exists — it is whether your controls assume it does.
With over 20 years of serving UK businesses across multiple industries, the IT executives at MicroPro have a vast wealth of knowledge. Our consultants understand exactly what businesses in London, Kent, Surrey and Hampshire are up against — and we have the solutions.
Why not give us a call and ask how we can help protect your business from impending cyber attacks like deepfake ransomware?