SCHENECTADY, N.Y. (NEWS10) — The 4th annual Tech Valley Cybersecurity Symposium took place Tuesday at Rivers Casino in Schenectady. It brings the top cybersecurity experts and chief security information officers from across North America together to discuss today’s most challenging cybersecurity issues.
The cybersecurity symposium is hosted by LogicalNet Corporation, a local company which acts as an IT department for small businesses.
President and CEO Tush Nikollaj says companies hiring outside IT departments aren’t always aware that they may still be open to cyber threats.
“Little do they realize, the IT company may be keeping your systems running and functional, but it doesn’t mean they’re protecting those services,” he said.
He said AI is posing one of the biggest threats to individuals and businesses, with the latest being the rise of voice-spoofing scams.
“AI is actually being used to mimic not only voice but images. These days, you don’t even know if you’re talking to a real human, and it’s getting to that level where you have to be really careful about releasing information to someone you think you might be communicating with the right person, it turns out to be the wrong person,” he said.
This was echoed by Erdal Ozkaya, one of CIO Online’s Top 50 Tech Leaders. He demonstrated how AI manipulated his own voice to create an online video where he is speaking multiple languages.
When asked how the video was able to be made, Ozkaya replied that “it’s simple. All they have to do is capture your voice. This could be from a phone call or, these days, social media is a gem for hackers. We all have something – with our permission or without.”
“It’s getting better. It’s really getting harder to detect,” he added.
The technology is so good, it was able to mimic his accent.
“AI is so capable to copy you. To copy your identity,” he said. “They can replicate your voice. Just imagine you’re a mom, you have a kid. The mom calls the kid — hey, honey, let the person come into your house. Or your CEO calls you [saying] I need this urgently to be changed. And you look and the number looks legitimate because the number was spoofed. The voice is legitimate because it sounds like he or she is calling you. It’s really getting out of control.”
He says it’s like what happens in the movies when people are held for ransom.
“They come and kidnap your most loved ones. This could be a wife, your girlfriend, husband, whatever. And then They ask for money. They ask for something in return. Put this in cybersecurity. This is how things work and where we need to be aware.”
Ozkaya said to avoid falling victim to a scam, it’s important to keep the following in mind:
“Ask yourself, is it really true? Ask yourself, is this request going to make any impact? Hey, why should my CEO ask me to make a money transfer to that account?” he shared.
He also demonstrated with technology in real time, using Grok to turn a simple selfie into a dynamic video.
Experts today agreed that whether it’s an email in your inbox or one of the AI-generated calls that just doesn’t seem right, think twice and verify it before moving forward and taking action.
