Protecting Company Assets – Generative AI and Fraud: Protecting Your Business From Emerging Risks
By Tom Glover, Chief Revenue Officer at Responsive Technology Partners
The business world is witnessing a revolution with generative AI technologies transforming how we work, create, and communicate. While these innovations offer tremendous opportunities, they also introduce sophisticated new fraud vectors that businesses must understand and mitigate.
The Shifting Fraud Landscape
Just a few years ago, spotting a fraudulent communication was relatively straightforward. Grammatical errors, unusual requests, or suspicious links often gave away malicious attempts. Today, generative AI has dramatically changed this equation.
We’re seeing a troubling pattern across organizations. Finance teams receive what appear to be legitimate emails from executives requesting urgent payments to new vendors. These messages perfectly mimic the executive’s writing style, reference ongoing projects, and include personal touches that make them seem authentic. In many cases, the only thing preventing these frauds is a verification call to the actual executive, who confirms they sent no such request.
Modern AI tools can craft perfectly worded emails that mimic your CEO’s writing style or generate convincing voice replicas for phone calls that sound indistinguishable from your colleagues. These advanced techniques have made social engineering attacks significantly more challenging to detect, even for experienced professionals.
What we’re seeing is not just an evolution but a complete transformation of fraud tactics. Criminal organizations are leveraging these tools to create increasingly believable scams, targeting businesses of all sizes.
Real-World Implications
The financial implications are staggering. Voice cloning scams alone have resulted in millions of dollars in losses as finance teams receive what sounds like legitimate authorization calls from executives to transfer funds. Meanwhile, deepfake video technology has enabled fraudsters to impersonate company leaders in virtual meetings, instructing employees to take actions that ultimately compromise security.
More concerning is how these technologies can be deployed at scale. Where traditional fraud required significant manual effort per target, AI enables mass customization of attacks, each tailored to specific individuals based on information readily available on company websites and social media.
Building Your Defense Strategy
Protecting your organization requires a multi-layered approach that combines technology, process changes, and employee education:
Establish strict verification protocols: Implement mandatory multi-factor verification for financial transactions, especially those initiated through electronic communications. Create a clear policy requiring verification through a different channel than the one where the request originated. For example, if you receive an email requesting a wire transfer, verify it with a phone call to a known number, not one provided in the email.
Implement out-of-band authentication: For critical systems and transactions, establish verification methods that exist completely outside the potentially compromised channel. This might include hardware tokens, biometric verification, or pre-established code words known only to authorized personnel.
Invest in AI-powered security: Fight fire with fire by deploying AI detection tools that can identify synthetic content. These solutions analyze subtle patterns that human reviewers might miss, flagging potentially fraudulent communications for further review. Several vendors now offer solutions specifically designed to detect AI-generated content in emails, voice recordings, and video calls.
Create AI awareness throughout your organization: Your employees remain your most effective defense. Regular training should now include examples of AI-generated fraud attempts and clear procedures for reporting suspicious communications. Make verification a cultural norm, not an exception. Consider running simulated AI-based phishing exercises to test and strengthen your team’s vigilance.
Limit publicly available information: Audit your organization’s digital footprint. Reduce unnecessary detail about organizational structures, workflows, and executive schedules that could provide ammunition for targeted attacks. Review executive social media accounts for information that could be used to train AI on their communication patterns.
Develop incident response plans: If your organization falls victim to an AI-enabled fraud attempt, having a clear response plan can minimize damage. This should include immediate steps to verify questionable transactions, communication protocols, and engagement with law enforcement when necessary. Run tabletop exercises to test these plans before a real incident occurs.
The Board’s Role in AI Security
For board members and company leaders, understanding these risks isn’t optional—it’s a governance responsibility. AI fraud protection should be explicitly discussed in risk management meetings and included in your organization’s security framework.
Boards should be asking penetrating questions: How are we adapting our security controls to address AI-enabled threats? What verification processes have we implemented for high-risk activities? How are we measuring our effectiveness against these evolving threats?
Looking Forward: Taking Action Today
The emergence of AI-enabled fraud doesn’t mean abandoning digital transformation initiatives. Rather, it requires thoughtful implementation that balances innovation with appropriate safeguards. The businesses that will thrive are those that view security not as a barrier to progress but as an enabler of sustainable growth.
I recommend taking these immediate steps:
- Schedule a security assessment specifically focused on AI-enabled threats. Understand your current vulnerabilities before they’re exploited.
- Review your verification processes for financial transactions, vendor changes, and data access requests. Are they robust enough to withstand sophisticated impersonation attempts?
- Conduct an executive communication workshop where leaders can develop challenging verification questions that only they would know how to answer correctly.
- Evaluate the potential for creating “digital watermarks” in your organization’s most important communications to help authenticate legitimate messages.
As we move forward, partnerships between technology providers, security experts, and business leaders will be crucial. The threat landscape will continue evolving, requiring ongoing vigilance and adaptation of defense strategies.
By taking proactive steps today, organizations can harness the transformative power of AI while protecting themselves from its misuse. The future belongs to those who can innovate securely, maintaining trust in an increasingly complex digital environment.
Tom Glover is Chief Revenue Officer at Responsive Technology Partners, specializing in cybersecurity and risk management. With over 35 years of experience helping organizations navigate the complex intersection of technology and risk, Tom provides practical insights for business leaders facing today’s security challenges.
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