Latest news with #VijayBalasubramaniyan
CNBC
11-07-2025
- Business
- CNBC
How deepfake AI job applicants are stealing remote work
Job-seeking impostors, including deepfakes, are exploiting the remote work trend, defrauding U.S. companies and potentially threatening U.S. national security, according to experts. Approximately 17% of hiring managers surveyed said they had encountered candidates using deepfake technology to alter their video interviews, according to career platform Resume Genius. It surveyed 1,000 hiring managers across the United States. By 2028, 1 in 4 job candidates worldwide will be fake, according to research and advisory firm Gartner. "Deepfake candidates are infiltrating the job market at a crazy, unprecedented rate," said Vijay Balasubramaniyan, CEO of voice authentication startup Pindrop Security, who said he recently caught a deepfake job candidate. "It's very, very simple right now" to create deepfakes for video interviews, Balasubramaniyan said. "All you need is either a static image" or video of another person and a few seconds of audio of their voice, he said. "Remote jobs unlocked the possibility of tricking companies into hiring fake candidates," said Dawid Moczadlo, co-founder of data security software company Vidoc Security Lab, who recently posted a viral video interaction with a deepfake job seeker on LinkedIn. "If this trend continues and if we experience more and more fake candidates, then we definitely will need to develop some kind of tools to verify if the person is a real person, if they are who they claim to be," Moczadlo said. While fraudulent job seekers can originate from anywhere, fake candidates with ties to North Korea have drawn significant headlines in recent months. In May 2024, the Justice Department alleged that more than 300 U.S. companies had unknowingly hired impostors tied to North Korea for remote IT roles, resulting in at least $6.8 million in overseas revenue. The workers allegedly used stolen American identities to apply for remote jobs and employed virtual networks and other techniques to conceal their true locations. "When we hire candidates or fake candidates who are from sanctioned nations, it becomes a national security concern," said Aarti Samani, an expert in AI deepfake fraud prevention. "The reason it becomes a national security concern is because, once these candidates or these individuals are in an organization, they are taking that salary and funding activities back in those nations. And those activities can be illicit as well. So inadvertently, we are funding illicit activities in sanctioned nations." As AI technology rapidly evolves, fake AI-generated job candidate profiles are undermining the credibility of the hiring process. "The whole reason you need to worry about deepfake job seekers is, at the very least, they're making the real employees, potential employees and candidates not able to get the job or [get the] job as easy," said Roger Grimes, a veteran computer security consultant. "It can create all kinds of disruption, just making the hiring process longer and more expensive." "Potentially, you could even be applying for a job and someone's not sure whether you're real or not, and you don't even get that call, and you don't know why you didn't get the call," Grimes said. "It was all because perhaps they saw something that made them think that maybe you're a deepfake candidate, even when you weren't." Watch the video above to learn how fake candidates can harm businesses and what steps can be taken to combat this issue.
Forbes
25-04-2025
- Business
- Forbes
Forbes Daily: Alphabet's Hot Start To 2025 Despite Uncertainty
The rise of AI has also driven a surge in its use for nefarious purposes. But Atlanta-based startup Pindrop just hit a new milestone helping fight the increase in fraud that the technology has brought. After more than 10 years in business, the firm surpassed $100 million in annual recurring revenue, and such growth is driven by its efforts to fight deepfakes—digitally created hoax recordings, images or videos. CEO Vijay Balasubramaniyan said the company has seen a 111% increase in deepfake-related fraud attempts since 2022. The company even had a moment in the spotlight last year: It identified a fraudulent robocall impersonating former President Joe Biden's voice that was used in New Hampshire to discourage Democrats from voting. Illustration by Cecilia Runxi Zhang for Forbes; Photos by Getty Images: LAW Ho Ming; Michael A. McCoy/Stringer Tesla's stock surged despite the company posting some of its worst quarterly results in years this week, as Elon Musk said he would step back from his DOGE duties. But even if Musk becomes a more active CEO again, the problems the EV maker faces—like declining profit margins, intensifying competition and a tarnished brand image—aren't going away anytime soon. Worse, it's becoming clear Musk has run out of ideas for how to fix them, writes Forbes senior editor Alan Ohnsman. Just one hour after Forbes released an investigation into metaverse company Infinite Reality, which had previously announced a massive $3 billion fundraise from a single anonymous investor, the company revealed the investor's identity. The company said the investment was 'represented by' Sterling Select, a venture firm affiliated with Sterling Equities, whose cofounders are former principal owners of the New York Mets and prominent figures in the New York real estate industry—and known for their ties to Bernie Madoff. Sterling Equities' general counsel denied any involvement with the funding round. NurPhoto via Getty Images The Chinese government may exempt some goods from its 125% tariff rate on all U.S. imports over reported concerns about the economic impact of the steep levies—imposed in response to Washington's 'reciprocal' tariffs. It would follow a similar carve out made by the Trump Administration earlier this month for certain items like Chinese-made smartphones and laptops. In a sign of the shifting cultural tides, 39% of companies said they would scale back on engagement for LGBTQ Pride Month this June, a survey from Gravity Research found. The executives surveyed from top companies cited conservative activists and President Donald Trump, who has waged a war on DEI and targeted the transgender community. Google CEO Sundar Pichai Google parent company Alphabet topped earnings expectations as it was the first of the trillion-dollar U.S. technology giants to report results from an uncertain first quarter. Google stock jumped about 4% in after-hours trading immediately following the release, and Amazon, Apple, Meta and Microsoft are expected to report their earnings next week. The White House is reportedly considering a number of proposals to incentivize Americans to have children amid declining birth rates in the U.S., including a potential $5,000 'baby bonus.' When asked about the proposal, President Donald Trump called the bonus a 'good idea,' though it would need to be approved by Congress. After President Donald Trump suggested it on Truth Social, the Trump Organization fired its ethics attorney, whom Harvard University hired to help with its lawsuit against the federal government. The Trump Organization began working with attorney William Burck in January to help prevent conflicts of interest between the company and Trump's presidency, but the move to fire him raises questions about Trump's independence from his business empire. ILLUSTRATION BY FORBES; IMAGES BY GOOGLE GEMINI AI Talk to any financial advisor these days, and he or she is likely to have a strong opinion about something known as 'structured notes.' These complex products are sold as the 'have your cake and eat it' investments of the wealth management world. Their specialty is flexibility—some are geared toward growth and others toward income. Returns are capped and in all cases the goal is to limit downside risk. They are manufactured by big banks like JPMorgan using derivatives, and are often sold as 'stock market-linked' with 'sleep well at night' protection. They come with maturities ranging from six months to five years, provide principal protection and sometimes offer annual yields of 10% or more. Up until the last few years, structured notes were mostly the domain of hedge funds and other sophisticated investors or ultra-wealthy clients. But thanks to clever engineering, the notes are now being offered by scores of brokers and sold in bite-sized $1,000 increments. The current market volatility and uncertainty has caused them to surge in popularity. Last year the broker-sold U.S. structured notes market reached a record high of nearly $150 billion, up 46% from the previous year, according to London's Deriva Intelligence. JPMorgan was the top issuer in 2024, followed closely by the likes of Citi, Goldman Sachs, Morgan Stanley and Barclays. WHY IT MATTERS "The surge in downside protection securities signals a proactive approach by both advisors and investors in response to today's market uncertainty,' says Forbes staff writer Sergei Klebnikov. 'As these complex products which seek to limit losses become increasingly accessible, it's imperative that investors understand the nuances of different costs and risks involved." MORE The Best Ways To Profit From, And Safeguard Against, Market Volatility Ultra-low price retailers Shein and Temu said they would raise prices Friday in response to President Donald Trump's hefty China tariffs. Neither firm said which products would see increases or by how much: 145%: The current tariff rate on goods from China, though Trump has said such rates would 'come down substantially' $38 billion: The amount in total sales Shein reported in 2024, up 19% from the previous year $2: The price of a pair of Shein earrings promoted in a video from a TikTok user that highlighted deals to take advantage of Although it might feel intimidating, it's important to ask your boss questions that can help fast-track your career. One key question that will help show you're willing to go above and beyond is: 'What problems are you working on that I can help with?' And don't just say that you want a promotion—ask for their input on how you can get there. A second U.S. legacy airline pulled its 2025 fiscal guidance Thursday, citing economic uncertainty. Which carrier is it? A. Delta B. United C. American D. Alaska Check your answer. Thanks for reading! This edition of Forbes Daily was edited by Sarah Whitmire and Chris Dobstaff.
Yahoo
11-04-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Job applicants are using deepfake AI to trick recruiters—Here's how hiring managers can spot the next imposter
Vijay Balasubramaniyan knew there was a problem. The CEO of Pindrop, a 300-person information security company, says his hiring team came to him with a strange dilemma: they were hearing weird noises and tonal abnormalities while conducting remote interviews with job candidates. Balasubramaniyan immediately thought the issue might be interviewees using deepfake AI technology to mask their true identities. But unlike most other companies, Pindrop was in a unique position as a fraud-detecting organization to investigate the mystery itself. To get to the bottom of it, the company posted a job listing for a senior back-end developer. It then used its own in-house technology to scan candidates for potential red flags. 'We started building these detection capabilities, not just for phone calls, but for conferencing systems like Zoom and Teams,' he tells Fortune. 'Since we do threat detection, we wanted to eat our own dog food, so to speak. And very quickly we saw the first deepfake candidate.' Out of 827 total applications for the developer position, the team found that roughly 100, or about 12.5%, did so using fake identities. 'It blew our mind,' says Balasubramaniyan. 'This was never the case before, and tells you how in a remote-first world, this is increasingly becoming a problem.' Pindrop isn't the only company getting a deluge of job applications attached to fake identities. Although it's still a nascent issue, around 17% of hiring managers have already encountered candidates using deepfake technology to alter their video interviews, according to a March survey from career platform Resume Genius. And one startup founder recently told Fortune that about 95% of the résumés he receives are from North Korean engineers pretending to be American. As AI technology continues to progress at a rapid clip, businesses and HR leaders must prepare for this new twist to an already-complicated recruiting landscape, and be prepared to face the next deepfake AI candidate who shows up for an interview. 'My theory right now is that if we're getting hit with it, everybody's getting hit with it,' says Balasubramaniyan. Some AI deepfake job applicants are simply attempting to land multiple jobs at once to boost their income. But there is evidence to suggest that there are more nefarious forces at play that can lead to big consequences for unwitting employers. In 2024, cybersecurity company Crowsdtrike responded to more than 300 instances of criminal activity related to Famous Chollima, a major North Korean organized crime group. More than 40% of those incidents were sourced to IT workers who had been hired under a false identity. 'Much of the revenue they're generating from these fake jobs is going directly to a weapons program in North Korea,' says Adam Meyers, a senior vice president of counter adversary operations at Crowdstrike. 'They're targeting login, credit card information, and company data.' And in December 2024, 14 North Korean nationals were indicted on charges related to a fraudulent IT worker. They stand accused of funnelling at least $88 million from businesses into a weapons program over the course of six years. The Department of Justice also alleges that some of those workers also threatened to leak sensitive company information unless their employer paid them an extortion fee. Dawid Moczadło, the co-founder of data security software company Vidoc Security Lab, recently posted a video on LinkedIn of an interview he did with a deepfake AI job candidate, which serves as a masterclass in potential red flags. The audio and video of the Zoom call didn't quite sync up, and the video quality also seemed off to him. 'When the person was moving and speaking I could see different shading on his skin and it looked very glitchy, very strange,' Moczadło tells Fortune. Most damning of all though, when Moczadło asked the candidate to hold his hand in front of his face, he refused. Moczadło suspects that the filter used to create a false image would begin to fray if that happened, much like it does on Snapchat, exposing his true face. 'Before this happened we just gave people the benefit of the doubt, that maybe their camera is broken,' says Moczadło. 'But after this, if they don't have their real camera on, we will just completely stop [the interview].' It's a strange new world out there for HR leaders and hiring managers, but there are other tell-tale signs they can watch out for earlier on in the interview process that can save them major headaches later on. Deepfake candidates often use AI to create fake LinkedIn profiles that appear real, but are missing critical information in their employment history, or have very little activity or few connections, Meyers notes. When it comes to the interview stage, these candidates are also often unable to answer basic questions about their life and job experience. For example, Moczadło says he recently interviewed a deepfake candidate who listed multiple well-known organizations on their resume, but couldn't share any detailed information about those companies. Employers should also look out for new hires who ask to have their laptop shipped to a location other than their home address. Some people are operating 'laptop farms,' in which they keep multiple computers open and running so that people outside the country can log in remotely. And finally, employee impersonators are typically not the best workers. They often don't turn on their cameras during meetings, make excuses to hide their faces, or skip work gatherings altogether. Moczadło says he's much more careful about hiring now, and has implemented new procedures into the process. For example, he pays for candidates to come into the company's office for at least one full day in-person before they're hired. But he knows not everyone can afford to be so vigilant. 'We're in this environment where recruiters are getting thousands of applications,' says Moczadło. 'And when there's more pressure on them to hire people they're more likely to overlook these early warning signs and create this perfect storm of opportunity to take advantage of.' This story was originally featured on
