What Threats Are Presented by Digital Injection Attacks?

Fraud, as we once knew it, has changed dramatically. Traditional fraud techniques like document fraud and social engineering are being replaced by newer digital fraud techniques, aided by AI. What we see and capture online is in jeopardy, as digital trust, identity verification and evidentiary integrity is at stake due to these new digital fraud techniques.

One such AI-driven technique is the digital injection attack. This is a powerful fraud technique which can be used for identity spoofing and deepfake fraud. In this article we will examine what digital injection attacks are, how they work and how to prevent them from impacting you and your organisation.

 

What Is a Digital Injection Attack?

A digital injection attack is a fraud technique where a criminal injects an audio or video feed between an online call to appear as someone else. This can be done using deepfake technology or can use pre-recorded material to deceive biometric authentication or the other participants of the call.

Digital injection attacks, also known as media injection attacks, differ from other attacks such as SQL injection or code injection. SQL injection uses malicious SQL code to gain unauthorised access to databases, which could hold sensitive information.

Digital injection attacks most commonly occur in a video format. As highlighted, this leaves a potential for exploitation in authentication, biometric verification or event court evidence.

 

How Does a Digital Injection Attack Work?

1. The fraudster must capture or forge the data of their victim. This can be via biometric data or video feeds found online. AI can be trained on video, or photographic, data which can then be turned into a deepfake profile.
2. Using easily-accessible tools, a fraudster can inject the synthetic, or pre-recorded, content into a live video call or channel.
3. The digital injection can be used to bypass identity verification or simply other people on the call.

Digital injection attacks have the potential to gravely impact a range of sectors. This type of fraud can wreak havoc for financial services, especially as these organisations follow the Know Your Customer (KYC) process which stipulates that businesses must verify the identities of their customers.

Even in a regular business setting, digital onboarding could be compromised with digital injection attacks. Can we really prove who we are interviewing or talking to over an online video call?

 

How to Prevent a Digital Injection Attack

The best approach to detecting and preventing digital injection attacks involve three layers.

1. Liveness detection is a key tool in preventing digital injection attacks. These dynamic checks are scanning eye movement, reflections and texture to understand whether the caller is a human and not a deepfake.
2. If a fraudster passes liveness detection, another safety measure to prevent injection attacks is using multi-factor authentication. By using biometric identity checks or other forms of authentication, you don’t have to solely rely on the liveness check of the individual.
3. Finally, it is important to use a trusted channel to conduct the interview or meeting. This ensures the data comes from a secure source where data integrity is a core principle. MeaConnexus, a secure tamper-evident interview platform, uses advanced cryptography and blockchain recording to protect the authenticity of all interviews.

 

What Is Synthetic Identity Theft?

Synthetic identity theft is the blending of real and fake data to create a “new” digital identity, a major issue perpetuated by digital injection attacks and deepfakes. This type of fraud has the potential to disrupt major industries and services as deepfake technology continues to advance.

The banking and finance sector will experience credit fraud and account takeovers as fraudsters deceive the KYC (Know Your Customer) standards. In insurance, there will be an increase of false claims using this digital fraud method. Finally in government, we will see an increase in passport and visa fraud, as new identities are created which can then be sold to the highest bidder.

The consequences of synthetic identity theft will be devastating, as not only will it be difficult to trace the perpetrators, but for the general public it erodes trust in digital systems.

 

Why Digital Injection Attacks Undermine Digital Trust

The damage caused by digital injection attacks are extensive. But the implications are much wider than just financial loss.

For the justice system, integrity and authenticity of evidence and information is paramount. If digital injection attacks are allowed to tamper with evidence, or generate completely false information, this undermines trust in the justice system.

Notaries and legal professionals rely on identity verification to confirm that the individuals involved are who they claim to be, helping ensure that any signed or recorded material is legally valid and admissible in court. But as alluded to earlier, synthetic identity theft compromises the integrity of the verification process.

Global security is complex involving cooperation between international bodies and agencies to ensure safety from foreign or domestic threats. Now that criminals can generate synthetic identities, attacks can occur cross-border, making it difficult to trace these criminals.

A steady stream of such news stories will shape public perception of digital interactions and systems. This erodes trust in essential institutions like government and justice, where security and integrity are critical to their proper functioning.

 

Conclusion

Digital injection attacks are not just technical attacks, they’re trust attacks. They attack the integrity of the world we live in, taking away trust from online interactions. So, to prevent digital injection attacks, it requires a multi-layered security approach which includes dynamic liveness checks, multi-factor authentication and secure communication platforms like MeaConnexus.

Synthetic identity theft is just one of many ways that fraud is advancing, utilising powerful and unregulated tools like generative AI. Safeguarding against digital injection attacks is fundamental to maintaining digital trust. So, it begs the question, are our current digital defences evolving fast enough to keep pace?

 

FAQs

How is a digital injection attack different from a presentation (spoof) attack?
Presentation attacks happen in front of the lens, such as a printed photo, a mask or a replay held up to the camera. With digital injection attacks, the attacker substitutes the camera feed at the software/driver layer with a synthetic stream, so the system displays a manufactured “live” session.

What’s the difference between active and passive liveness?
Active liveness asks the user to follow prompts (blink, turn, speak). Passive liveness runs in the background, analysing texture, depth, lighting and micro-movements to confirm a real, present person.

How do deepfakes and digital injection attacks fuel synthetic identities?
Deepfakes produce convincing faces and voices. Injection attacks deliver those assets straight into remote interviews or meetings, bypassing the camera and making fabricated “people” look legitimate. The outcome is synthetic identities that pass checks, open accounts and erode digital trust.