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RTÉ News
3 days ago
- Business
- RTÉ News
All you need to know about voice spoofing and audio deepfakes
Analysis: Biometric fraud like voice spoofing and audio deepfakes are part of broader social engineering attacks by scammers and criminals Voice spoofing involves using digital technology such as artificial intelligence to mimic someone's voice so accurately that it can deceive both humans and automated speaker verification systems. With recent rapid advancements in AI, creating these fake voices—often called "audio deepfakes"—has become alarmingly easy. Today, with just a few seconds of recorded speech from platforms like podcasts, YouTube or TikTok, machine learning models can generate highly realistic synthetic voices that mimic real individuals. It is a type of biometric fraud and often part of broader social engineering attacks. How does voice spoofing work? AI-powered tools analyses the unique patterns of a person's speech—such as tone, pitch, and rhythm—and use this data to produce synthetic speech that closely resembles the original voice. The technology have become so advanced that distinguishing between a real voice and a fake one is increasingly challenging. From RTÉ Radio 1's The Business, BBC's File on 4. reporter Paul Connolly on how criminals are now using AI-generated voices to scam people out of their money Typically, the process usually begins with an attacker collecting voice clips from online sources like social media or videos. Specialized AI models, like VGGish or YAMNet analyze these voice samples to extract important acoustic patterns from the voice, turning them into digital fingerprints called embeddings. These embeddings are then fed into voice generation systems such as Tacotron, WaveNet, or FastSpeech that produce new speech mimicking the original voice. The resulting fake voice can be used in phone calls or apps to impersonate someone in real time. How is this going to impact us in the real world? Financial scams are a growing problem and we've all had a (fairly ridiculous) phone call where a robot voice purporting to be from a company tries to get information or money, but more sophisticated versions have worked. In the UK, fraudsters used AI-generated voices to impersonate financial advisors, leading to a multi-million euro scam targeting crypto investors. In the US, the FBI has warned about scammers using AI to mimic senior US officials' voices, deceiving individuals into sharing confidential information. There have also even been cases where scammers cloned the voices of loved ones, calling individuals and pretending to be in distress to extract money. These incidents highlight the disturbing reality that even the sound of someone's voice can no longer be trusted. From CNN, can Donie O'Sullivan's parents tell the difference between RealDonie's voice and AI-Donie's voice? Celebrities, politicians, and influencers are particularly at risk because their voices are widely available online. The more audio content (voice data) available publicly, the easier it is for AI tools to replicate their voice. This is a basic principle of AI: more data = better performance. However, it's not just public figures who are at risk. If you've ever posted a video or audio clip on platforms like Facebook, Instagram, or YouTube, your voice could potentially be cloned. What are the difficulties in detecting voice spoofing? Detecting synthetic voices is a complex task. Most traditional security systems and speaker verification systems often rely on voice recognition for authentication, but AI-generated voices have become sophisticated enough to deceive these systems. Some of the core technical challenges include: Spectro-temporal similarity Fake voices closely mimic both pitch and timing patterns of natural speech. Data imbalance: Real-world datasets typically contain fewer examples of spoofed voices, making it harder for AI to recognize these cases. Generalisation: Many detection models struggle when faced with spoofing methods they weren't specifically trained on. How to protect yourself While the threat is real, there are steps you can take to safeguard against voice spoofing: Be sceptical: If you receive an unexpected call requesting sensitive information or money, verify the caller's identity through another channel. Use safe words: Establish a unique code word with family and close contacts that can be used to confirm identities during emergencies. Limit voice sharing: Be cautious about sharing voice recordings online, especially on public platforms. Stay informed: Keep abreast of the latest scams and educate yourself on how to recognize potential threats. Voice spoofing poses a growing threat as AI continues to advance, making it easier than ever to mimic someone's voice convincingly. Whether you're a public figure or an everyday social media user, the potential to become a victim of voice cloning exists. From RTÉ Radio 1's Ray D'Arcy Show, AI expert Henry Ajder talks on how deepfakes are damaging online trust and what some platforms are doing to rebuild it How our research work is helping Our recent research proposes an innovative and effective approach for detecting voice spoofing by using a hybrid deep learning (DL) architecture called VGGish-LSTM. We used VGGish, a pre-trained model developed by Google, to extract robust acoustic embeddings from audio data. These embeddings capture detailed features that are often not noticeable by human listeners but are critical in distinguishing synthetic voices. Once extracted, these acoustic features are then analysed by a Long Short-Term Memory (LSTM) network, a type of artificial neural network designed specifically to detect long-term patterns and dependencies in sequential data. These networks excel at identifying variations in speech rhythm, tone, and pitch that could indicate synthetic or manipulated speech. The advice for users is to stay vigilant, limit how much voice data you share online and adopt simple safety practices Evaluated on the widely used ASV Spoof 2019 dataset, our model achieved an outstanding accuracy of over 90%. This performance demonstrates our model's ability to detect spoofing effectively and can be used in real-world scenarios such as banking authentication, call centre security, or smart home voice verification systems. With ongoing research into detection technologies, such as the VGGish-LSTM model described here, we can continue developing robust defences to cope with voice spoofing scams. But for users, the advice is to stay vigilant, limit how much voice data you share online and adopt simple safety practices.
Daily Mirror
27-05-2025
- Daily Mirror
Top cop raised concerns about arrest of woman over abortion before acquittal
A secret recording reveals the senior officer said "criminalisation of abortions" was not a "comfortable area for police to be operating in" after Nicola Packer was held in hospital A senior police officer raised serious concerns over the controversial arrest of a woman who took abortion pills, a secret recording reveals. Nicola Packer was held in hospital at the height of the Covid pandemic, a day after delivering a stillborn baby at home. The next day she was taken into custody in the back of a police van, still bleeding after undergoing major surgery. Ms Packer sobbed in the dock as she was acquitted earlier this month after going on trial accused of having an illegal abortion. Prosecutors had said she knew she was over the 10-week limit for an at-home abortion. But a jury at Isleworth crown court in South West London acquitted her of unlawfully administering to herself a poison to procure a miscarriage in 2020. The Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists said the trial showed how outdated and harmful abortion law is. A BBC File on 4 investigation has now published a recording of a 2020 meeting between Metropolitan Police officers and healthcare professionals. A senior officer in the Met's child abuse investigation command at the time said: "It's not a comfortable area for police to be operating in… any criminalisation around abortions." The officer also asked whether the arrest was "the best for Nicola" under the circumstances. Ms Packer was charged in 2023 following a police request to review the original Crown Prosecution Service decision not to prosecute. A Met Police spokesperson said it was "not unusual and is standard practice" for detectives to request that the CPS reviews its decisions. The jury heard that the defendant, then 41, took the abortion pills mifepristone and misoprostol in November 2020. They had been prescribed to her after a remote consultation under temporary pandemic provisions allowing abortions at home for those up to ten weeks pregnant. Ms Packer denied knowing that she was about 26 weeks pregnant when she took the medication. It is a criminal offence to have an abortion after 24 weeks or without approval from two doctors. Ms Packer told her trial: "I just felt really bad, I didn't know I was pregnant or that far along. If I had known ... I wouldn't have done it." She took the foetus to Chelsea and Westminster Hospital in west London and initially did not tell staff she had taken abortion medication, fearing that it would affect her treatment. Her barrister, Fiona Horlick KC, said her client was still "utterly traumatised" by the ordeal. "The facts of this case are a tragedy but they are not a crime," Ms Horlick said. Ms Packer told the BBC: "I did say that I'd had a late miscarriage - because I was really scared to tell them I had taken abortion pills. I didn't know if they were going to help me get the medical support I needed." She eventually told a senior midwife that she had taken the abortion medication. The midwife then called the police. Prosecutors exercise "the greatest care when considering these complex and traumatic cases", a CPS spokesperson said. "Our role was not to decide whether Nicola Packer's actions were right or wrong; but to make a factual judgement about whether she knew she was beyond the legal limit when she accessed abortion medication."
Yahoo
14-05-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Abortion decriminalisation plans pushed by Labour MP
A Labour MP has launched a bid to decriminalise abortions, after campaigners revealed estimates that police have prosecuted more than 100 women under abortion laws in recent years. Abortion remains a criminal offence in England and Wales unless under strict circumstances - including taking place before 24 weeks into the pregnancy with the approval of two doctors - under a 164-year-old law. Tonia Antoniazzi, Labour MP for Gower, tabled an amendment to the Crime and Policing Bill to decriminalise the process without "changing anything about provision of abortion care". Antoniazzi said the current situation was "unacceptable" and led to police prosecuting vulnerable women. Nearly 60 MPs from Labour, the Conservatives, Liberal Democrats, Green Party and Plaid Cymru have put their names to Antoniazzi's amendment. MPs had been due to debate similar amendments last year, but Parliament was dissolved for the general election before this could take place. How do the UK's abortion laws compare? Buffer zones set to come in around abortion clinics Last year a BBC investigation found an unprecedented number of women are being investigated by police on suspicion of illegally ending a pregnancy. Some investigations followed natural pregnancy loss, the report by File on 4 found. Pregnancy loss is investigated only if credible evidence suggests a crime, according to the National Police Chiefs' Council. The issue was in the news again this week when Nicola Packer, 45, was cleared by a jury of "unlawfully administering" herself with abortion pills at home during a coronavirus lockdown in 2020. She had taken prescribed abortion medicine when she was around 26 weeks pregnant, beyond the legal limit of 10 weeks for taking such medication at home. She told jurors she did not realise she had been pregnant for more than 10 weeks. The Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists (RCOG) said Ms Packer's trial demonstrated "just how outdated and harmful" current abortion law was and called for reform. RCOG are among several royal medical colleges, charities and trade unions backing Antoniazzi's amendment. Records collected by the UK's largest abortion services have found at least 100 women have been investigated for having an abortion in the last five years. Of those, six have appeared in court according to data collected by British Pregnancy Advisory Group (Bpas), National Unplanned Pregnancy Advisory Service (NUPAS) and MSI abortion services. Antoniazzi said: "There is simply no world in which prosecuting a vulnerable woman who may have experienced a medical complication, miscarriage or stillbirth is the right course of action." She said her amendment, laid before Parliament on Tuesday, is "tightly drawn - not changing anything about provision of abortion care, the time limit, the right to conscientious objection or any other aspects of abortion law". She added: "I am confident that, when Parliament has the opportunity to vote on these proposals, my colleagues will agree that never again should a woman be prosecuted for ending her own pregnancy in England and Wales." The amendment follows repeated calls to repeal sections of the Offences Against the Person Act 1861. Abortions were completely illegal under 19th Century law until it was modified by the 1967 Abortion Act, which initially allowed them to take place up to 28 weeks. This was reduced to 24 weeks in 1990. Abortions after 24 weeks are allowed only if: the woman's life is in danger there is a severe fetal abnormality the woman is at risk of grave physical and mental injury Since 2018, women in England have taken the second abortion pill at home, aligning the rules with Scotland and Wales. Though the same rules apply in Scotland, it has a distinct healthcare and legal system. Abortion laws are currently under review in Scotland following appeals from advocacy groups' to decriminalise the process. Abortion was decriminalised in Northern Ireland in 2019. Latest figures show there were 251,377 abortions recorded in England and Wales in 2022 - the highest number since the Abortion Act was introduced and an increase of 17% over the previous year. About 88% of recorded abortions took place before 10 weeks, after which the procedure must be carried out in an approved clinic or NHS hospital. Sign up for our Politics Essential newsletter to keep up with the inner workings of Westminster and beyond.
NDTV
14-05-2025
- NDTV
UK Woman Says Husband Confessed To Drugging, Raping Her For Years While She Slept
A woman in the United Kingdom has come forward with harrowing allegations against her former husband, claiming he drugged, raped, and photographed her over several years while she was unconscious. The woman, identified as "Kate" by the BBC to protect her identity, shared her story on the broadcaster's investigative programme File on 4. According to Kate, her husband confessed to the abuse in a chillingly casual manner. "I have been raping you. I've been sedating you and taking photographs of you for years," he reportedly told her, as per the BBC report. She described his confession as disturbingly nonchalant, comparing it to an everyday conversation about dinner plans. Kate said the abuse took place while she was drugged with sleeping medication, usually mixed into her nightly cup of tea. The assault continued for years without her knowledge. She also recalled waking up on some occasions to find her husband sexually assaulting her, incidents he dismissed as sleep-related accidents. After the confession, Kate suffered from extreme stress and health deterioration. Initially unable to process the trauma, she kept the abuse secret, only telling her sister after a severe panic attack. Her mother eventually contacted the police, prompting an initial investigation by Devon and Cornwall Police. However, Kate chose to withdraw the charges days later, citing concern for their children. Six months later, she returned to the police, and a formal investigation led by Detective Constable Mike Smith began. "He helped give me my power back," she said of the officer who supported her during the process. Despite disturbing evidence, including a psychiatrist's notes stating that her husband admitted to drugging his wife for non-consensual sex, the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) initially decided not to pursue charges. It was only after Kate applied for a formal review under the Victims' Right to Review Scheme that the CPS reversed its decision. "We are committed to delivering justice in complex cases such as this one... while we get the vast majority of our charging decisions right the first time, this was not the case here and we apologise to the victim," the CPS said in a statement. The case eventually went to trial, five years after the husband's confession. He was found guilty of rape, sexual assault by penetration, and administering a substance with intent. He was sentenced to 11 years in prison and handed a lifelong restraining order. Kate, who has since been diagnosed with PTSD and a neurological disorder, said the abuse was not only physical but also psychological. She described her ex-husband as controlling and manipulative, and said he misused prescription medications throughout their relationship. "I want other people to understand that abuse happens a lot more quietly than you think," she said. The case has drawn parallels with a similar high-profile trial in France, where Dominique Pelicot was convicted of raping his wife Gisele Pelicot over decades.
BBC News
02-04-2025
- BBC News
David Tudor: Church of England launches review into disgraced priest
A review of how the case of the disgraced priest David Tudor was handled has been launched, the Church of England was banned for life from ministry in October 2024 after admitting historical sex abuse allegations relating to two December, a BBC File on 4 investigation revealed he had been allowed to stay in post even though senior clergy, including current interim Church leader Archbishop Stephen Cottrell, had been aware of serious safeguarding concerns about Church's Safeguarding Practice Review (SPR) will not reinvestigate the case against Tudor, but will examine how the Church handled allegations and "how it responded to victims and survivors". Calls for Archbishop of York to resign over sex abuse case failingsBishop reacts as vicar banned over grooming claimsWelby: I forgive serial abuser John Smyth Tudor worked for the Church of England for more than 46 years, in London, Surrey and Essex, rising from curate to honorary BBC revealed Tudor had stood trial twice in 1988, in both cases accused of indecent assault against girls under the age of 16. In the first trial, he was acquitted but had admitted to having sex with one girl when she was the other case, he was convicted of indecent assault against three girls, and served a six-month sentence, but the conviction was quashed on the basis that the judge had misdirected the serving a five-year suspension, he returned to ministry in the 1990s and was appointed team vicar of Canvey Island, in Essex, in 1997 and team rector in was later suspended in 2005 by the Diocese of Chelmsford after a complaint was made about his conduct relating to a time prior to his ordination in the BBC is aware of at least seven alleged victims of Tudor's, one of whom received six-figure compensation from the Church in Williams, a former commander in the Met Police, has been appointed as an independent reviewer by the Church. She will be working with an advisory group made up of safeguarding professionals, who will also use the input of victims, the Church Williams will be assisted by former senior police officer Richard Norfolk. If serious safeguarding concerns relating to the practice of others are highlighted in the review, "appropriate action" will be taken, the Church February, the General Synod - the Church's governing body - rejected a proposal that would have made safeguarding fully independent, which proponents say would increase accountability but critics say would delay review comes at a time of turmoil in the Church of England, following a damning report into how it covered up prolific abuse by the barrister John report found Smyth had attacked more than 100 boys and young men in the UK and Africa over decades. He never faced justice in the UK or abroad before dying aged 77 in report led to the resignation of the Church's most senior figure, the Archbishop of Canterbury Justin Welby, who stood down last his first interview since quitting, Justin Welby told the BBC that he forgave the serial abuser, but said it was more important for victims to be "cared for... liberated to rebuild their lives" than to speak about Archbishop of York, Stephen Cottrell, has also faced calls from alleged abuse victims to resign after the BBC's File on 4 investigation revealed he had allowed Tudor to remain in post despite knowing his past, that he had been barred from being alone with children and that he had paid thousands of pounds to an alleged sexual abuse Cottrell says that while he "regrets" that under him David Tudor was twice reappointed to a senior role, the risks posed by the priest were regularly under review.
