This is a disgusting topic. It's also a very high social engineering risk. I will keep this post safe-for-work, which is not easy. NBC news just reported on the deepfake economy surging in recent months, because there is a loophole that allows people to pay with normal credit cards.
Reporter Kat Tenbarge started the article with: "Digitally edited pornographic videos featuring the faces of hundreds of unconsenting women are attracting tens of millions of visitors on websites, one of which can be found at the top of Google search results. The people who create the videos charge as little as $5 to download thousands of clips featuring the faces of celebrities, and they accept payment via Visa, Mastercard and cryptocurrency."
Since 2018, when consumer face-swap technology entered the market, the apps and programs used to make sexually explicit deepfakes have become more refined and widespread. Dozens of apps and programs are free or offer free trials. One such site, MrDeepFakes has skyrocketed with 17 million visits a month. Add this site to your blocklists. And while you are at it, also block Fan-Topia which enables payment for libraries of deepfake videos.
"Subscribe today and fill up your hard drive tomorrow!"
Used to be that this was only done with images from movie stars, but these days you can get a deepfake of someone you know, this is called a "personal girl". And for just 5 bucks per month you can get subscriptions. “Subscribe today and fill up your hard drive tomorrow!” a deepfake creator’s Fan-Topia description reads.
I do not have to tell you about the very high risks connected with this kind of behavior. Downloading content that may or not have been weaponized, malware infections, potential of videos of minors on hard disks in your organization, blackmail risks, it's just horrendous.
Block the sites, re-issue policy that there is zero-tolerance for this type of behavior, and train employees about the risks about it. You can also monitor for traffic that is using your network trying to go to sites like this and coach them in real-time about the risks.
