One could envision a chilling scenario in which deepfake audio, perfectly mimicking the voice of a top executive, instructing a drastic alteration in a critical delivery route or redirects a high-value cargo shipment to an unintended destination.
Back in 2019, an executive in a United Kingdom-based energy company received a phone call from his boss in Germany instructing him to wire €200,000 (US$220,000) to a Hungarian supplier within the hour. The call had been a deepfake audio, insurance company Euler Hermes Group SA told the Wall Street Journal. The fake audio had imitated the boss’s voice, tonality, punctuation, and even the German accent. Imagine this could be a potential threat to the logistics industry, which is heavily dependent on manual processes such as phone calls, emails, WhatsApp and SMSes.
Business identity compromises a particularly unsettling vulnerability. In the logistics industry, where immense contracts and pivotal logistical decisions frequently hinge on phone calls or video conferences, the threat of impersonation becomes alarmingly tangible. One could envision a chilling scenario in which deepfake audio, perfectly mimicking the voice of a top executive, instructs a drastic alteration in a critical delivery route or even redirects a high-value cargo shipment to an unintended destination.
Such fraudulent manipulations could result in substantial monetary losses and endanger the safety of the people involved. Many modern cargo facilities rely on biometric authentications, such as facial or voice recognition, for tasks ranging from system logins to confirming delivery schedules.
The advent of deepfakes has created a vulnerability in organizations’ security measures. They can bypass these security measures, granting unauthorised individuals access to sensitive logistical data or physical assets.
Deepfake phishing could potentially deceive unsuspecting employees into making unauthorised and catastrophic decisions. The best examples could involve releasing large monetary transactions, divulging sensitive cargo data, or revealing intricate delivery routes.
Famously called AI that deceives, deepfake technology takes its name from deep learning, a form of AI. In deepfake AI, deep learning algorithms that teach themselves how to solve problems with large data sets are used to swap faces in videos, images, and other digital content to make the fake appear real.
Legitimize and leverage
The logistics industry constantly evolves, staying ahead of the curve is crucial for businesses to thrive in this competitive landscape. One of the most effective ways to achieve this is by providing comprehensive and efficient employee training. However, traditional training methods can be time-consuming, costly, and often lack the desired impact.
Deepfake AI can transform the logistics industry’s learning and training landscape if used legitimately. It can create customisable training scenarios by simulating real-world consequences to enhance engagement with interactivity and multilingual videos to address diverse audiences.
How can tech beat tech?
Cargo Community Systems (CCS) are designed to eliminate all possible manual and human intervention in cargo movement. These unified, holistic platforms establish user authentication at multiple events, thereby eliminating the scope of telephone calls, WhatsApp messages, emails, and other modes of communication. All stakeholders exchange information on secured platforms.
In conclusion
There are always two sides to a coin, and as responsible professionals, it is up to us to choose the right side. If leveraged correctly, AI could be a boon to the logistics industry.
