Sanning eller fiktion? : En explorativ studie om förekomst och hantering av deepfake-attacker hos myndigheter

Sammanfattning

The rapid development of artificial intelligence enables the creation of well-made deepfakes. As the technology improves, research predicts that deepfakes will increasingly be used in more attacks. However there is a knowledge gap regarding the occurrence and management of deepfake attacks against organizations in practice. Since authorities have a central role in the society and potentially could be exposed to deepfake attacks with a wide range of motives they are particularly interesting to study linked to deepfake attacks. Therefore the purpose of this study is to investigate the occurrence of deepfake attacks against authorities and explore which measures authorities have taken linked to deepfake attacks. The study implemented a mixed methods strategy which consisted of qualitative interviews to inductively explore the subject and a quantitative questionnaire to validate the identified patterns from the interviews. The qualitative and quantitative results were combined into meta inferences which were used to answer the research question. All respondents in this study work with IT security at an authority. The results show that deepfake attacks against authorities do occur and that there are a number of measures being taken by the authorities linked to these attacks. Furthermore, the study shows that people with experience of IT security at authorities predict that deepfake attacks against authorities will increase in the future. The study contributes with knowledge about occurrence and management of deepfake attacks in practice and adds new perspectives by exploring the occurrence and management at authorities. This knowledge indicates that deepfake attacks against authorities is a current phenomenon which could be of importance for the future development of IT security at authorities. The result could also be relevant knowledge for the public.