Insights from FS-ISAC’s Report on Deepfakes: How Financial Institutions Can Tackle Emerging Risks

Insights from FS-ISAC’s Report on Deepfakes: How Financial Institutions Can Tackle Emerging Risks

Deepfake technology has emerged as a pressing concern for industries reliant on trust and authenticity, particularly the financial sector. The Financial Services Information Sharing and Analysis Center (FS-ISAC) recently published an insightful report, Deepfakes in the Financial Sector: Understanding the Threats, Managing the Risks, which provides a roadmap for identifying, managing, and mitigating deepfake risks. This report underscores the importance of proactive defense measures—including employee training, detection tools, and structured identification methods—to protect against this rapidly evolving threat.

Breaking Down the FS-ISAC Report: Understanding Deepfake Threats in Finance

The FS-ISAC report highlights that deepfakes are now advanced enough to mimic voices, faces, and even subtle behaviors of individuals, posing unique risks for financial institutions. These threats can be weaponized for fraud, market manipulation, and the erosion of client trust. The report introduces a detailed taxonomy of deepfake threats, categorizing them into specific classes to help institutions develop targeted strategies. By understanding the range of deepfake risks, organizations can tailor their defense tactics and better equip their teams to spot and prevent these attacks.

Why Employee Susceptibility to Deepfakes is a Major Concern

A critical point in the FS-ISAC report is the vulnerability of employees to deepfake-based scams. Employees—especially those in high-stakes roles like finance, HR, or executive support—are natural targets for deepfake attacks. A convincing deepfake of an executive making an urgent financial request can easily exploit this vulnerability, leading employees to unwittingly disclose sensitive information or authorize fraudulent transactions. Reducing this susceptibility is essential, and it begins with structured awareness and training programs to equip employees with the knowledge they need to recognize these threats.

Implementing Risk Reduction Measures: Training, Identification, and Resilience

The FS-ISAC report recommends a multi-layered approach for managing deepfake risks, focusing on training, identification tools, and resilience planning:

1. Comprehensive Employee Training: Training employees on deepfake threats is crucial for reducing their susceptibility. Programs should include best practices for verifying requests, spotting red flags, and following strict security protocols. Interactive simulations and penetration tests (like deepfake.sucks’ own deepfake susceptibility assessments) can help build real-world awareness, enabling employees to detect and respond to deepfake attempts effectively.

2. Advanced Detection and Identification Tools: As highlighted in the report, financial institutions should adopt sophisticated identification and detection tools that can analyze audio, video, and images for inconsistencies commonly present in deepfakes. These tools use AI to identify anomalies such as irregular blinking, distorted audio cues, or mismatched facial shadows. Integrating these tools supports employees by adding an additional layer of verification, enhancing their confidence in identifying and responding to potentially fraudulent media.

3. Accepting and Managing Residual Risk: While training and detection tools are essential, there will always be residual risk. Financial institutions must have incident response plans in place to address any consequences that might arise from a successful deepfake attack. Regular testing of these measures ensures that defenses remain robust and effective over time.

Strengthening Financial Sector Defenses Against Deepfake Attacks

FS-ISAC’s report provides essential insights into the risks deepfakes pose to the financial industry and offers foundational steps to help build a defense. But actionable, targeted solutions are needed to truly counter these threats.

At deepfake.sucks, we focus on creating real-world, targeted deepfake simulations that actively test and train employees against deepfake tactics. By designing specific deepfake scenarios that mimic high-risk situations—such as fake executive requests or unauthorized access attempts—we expose vulnerabilities that traditional training often misses. Our approach combines active testing with tailored awareness training, aligning with an organization’s specific risk profile.

If you’d like to learn more about how we can help strengthen your defenses against deepfakes, feel free to reach out.

Read the FS-ISAC report here.