New Chrome extension helps spot deepfakes

Deepfakes are becoming more of a problem and particularly around election times they can seek to influence voters views. They're also getting better so it can be hard to know if what you're watching or hearing is real or fake.

To combat this issue voice security company Hiya has launched a new plugin for the Chrome browser designed to identify video and audio deepfakes with up to 99 percent accuracy, by simply analyzing a few seconds of audio/voice.

"At Hiya, we're committed to combating scams, fraud, and misinformation," says Kush Parikh, president at Hiya. "Deepfakes are becoming harder to detect, making it difficult to discern between real and fabricated content. Voice cloning, while an incredible technological innovation, is also being exploited by cybercriminals for scams and even to try to influence major events like elections."

Deepfake Voice Detector is free -- though you do need to create an account -- and works in real time as you scroll through social media posts or listen to audio clips, there's no need to submit links and wait for an analysis.

It works on any website and can detect voices created by all popular voice synthesis tools. It also requires only a second of audio to perform a verification.

Parikh adds, "We have purposely opened our new Hiya Deepfake Voice Detector tool to everyone for free during this time to help people stay vigilant, informed, and safe. For democracy to be effective during the election period, voters need to be able to make their own decisions based on truth, not misinformation."

You can get Deepfake Voice Detector to try out for yourself on the Chrome web store.