Automated bot attacks surge ahead of US election

Automated bot attacks targeting social media platforms have surged in the lead-up to the US presidential election, with the sector accounting for 28 percent of all attacks in Q3, up from just three percent in Q1.

The latest identity fraud report from AU10TIX shows an increasing industrialization of identity fraud, with bad actors launching automated mega-attacks using thousands of false identities targeting payments, crypto and social media companies all over the world.

It also highlights the emergence of 'synthetic selfies'. Selfies have historically been one of the least-used methods of fraud, due to the difficulty of outsmarting facial matching technology. However, fraudsters are now exploiting extremely sophisticated technology to create 100 percent deepfaked selfies that match the synthetic IDs they use to trick automated Know Your Client (KYC) processes.

"Fraudsters are evolving faster than ever, leveraging AI to scale and execute their attacks, especially in the social media and payments sectors," says Dan Yerushalmi, CEO of AU10TIX. "While companies are using AI to bolster security, criminals are weaponizing the same technology to create synthetic selfies and fake documents, making detection almost impossible. The only way to detect this type of fraud is by analyzing behavior at the traffic level, as AU10TIX does with our Serial Fraud Monitor. We are committed to continually advancing our detection methods to protect customers against this rapid evolution of fraud tactics, using a combination of advanced AI, biometric verification, and deepfake detection."

There’s some good news in that fraud rates in the payments sector have dropped from 52 percent in Q2 to 39 percent in Q3, which AU10TIX attributes to increased self-regulation and law enforcement interventions. However, fraudsters have shifted their attention to less regulated sectors like the crypto market, which accounted for 31 percent of Q3 attacks.

You can find the full report on the AU10TIX site.

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