Former Binance CEO Changpeng Zhao has issued a warning about artificial intelligence (AI) being applied in new types of deepfake hacking.
“Even a video call verification will soon be out of the window,” Zhao warned.
He also urged his followers not to install software from a non-official link.
Earlier today, Mai Fujimoto, a well-known Japanese cryptocurrency influencer, revealed that her main X account had been hacked.
Fujimoto claims that the hacking incident took place when she was on a Zoom call with a deepfake of her acquaintance. She was tricked into clicking an update link after struggling to hear the audio.
Before joining the call, Fujimoto was not aware that the Telegram account of her acquaintance was actually compromised.
“She sent me the link and instructed me to follow some steps to adjust the audio settings, and I believe that’s when the attack compromised my computer,” Fujimoto said in a social media post on X.
As a result, Fujimoto’s Telegram and Metamaks accounts were also compromised.
This does not appear to be an isolated incident. On Thursday, it was reported that BlueNoroff, a malicious actor linked to North Korea, targeted an employee at a cryptocurrency foundation with the same trick. The employee spent several weeks on Zoom calls, seeing deepfaked AI-generated videos of their company’s executives. After facing a microphone issue, the victim was prompted to download a malicious extension that installed a keylogger, a screen recorder, and an information stealer focused on crypto asset.
Such threat actors primarily target crypto sector workers and other types of remote employees.