CICC eyes new technologies to counter deepfakes

Manila: The Cybercrime Investigation and Coordinating Center (CICC) is eyeing new technologies to ramp up its efforts in preventing the prevalence of deepfakes in the country.

‘Ang preparasyon ho natin (Our preparation) is to find a technology to counter or detect deepfake. Mayroon hong ganoong mga technologies na inaayos pa ng mga suppliers (There are such technologies that suppliers are still working on),’ CICC Director Alexander Ramos said during the Saturday News Forum in Quezon City.

Ramos said the government continues acquiring advanced tools for deepfake prevention, noting that it is spending an estimated PHP10 million annually for ‘subscription-based’ technologies.

He said the new technologies that the CICC seeks to acquire could be more expensive than the existing artificial intelligence (AI) technologies it is using to stop deepfake manipulation.

‘Maraming (There are many) suppliers but not all suppliers papatusin mo (you will not pick all of them). [Check if it’s] efficient. I will not waste o
ur money,’ Ramos said.

‘Ang ating ahensiya (Our agency), specifically CICC, maliban sa nag-aaral kami ngayon (apart from currently studying), together with other countries, how to address this, tini-test din namin ang mga technology kung sufficient na ba o puwede na, or kailangan pa natin ng dagdag na kaalaman para ma-address itong isyung ito (we are also testing the technologies to see if they are sufficient or possible, if we still need more knowledge to be able to address this issue),’ he added.

Around five to six deepfake cases are recorded daily, Ramos said, adding that the government is also expecting a surge in the number of fraudsters using the technology.

Ramos is hoping that the Department of Budget and Management and Congress would give the CICC a higher budget allotment to enable the agency to produce its own technology against digitally-altered videos, images or audios.

‘Ang gobyerno ho ay hindi ho tumitigil sa paghahanap ng mga solusyon at hindi tayo nag-iisa (The government never stops look
ing for solutions and we are not alone). This is a global pandemic, itong isyu na ito ng mga scam ‘no (the scam issues), and we are addressing it to the best of our ability using all available technologies,’ he said.

Relentless fight vs. misinformation

It could be recalled that President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr. was also a victim of deepfake manipulation, after the so-called ‘polvoron video’ that circulated in July this year supposedly showed him ‘sniffing’ illegal drugs a day before his third State of the Nation Address.

Local fact-checker Vera Files, in its Sept. 16 report, revealed that it sought the help of Deepfakes Analysis Unit (DAU), which is part of the India-based Misinformation Combat Alliance, to assess the video.

Vera File sent two copies of the ‘polvoron video,’ one uploaded by a publisher on July 22 and a better-quality copy uploaded on the Facebook page of vlogger Maharlika on Aug. 25.

Results of the DAU’s analysis found that the video, based on Maharlika’s video, indicated ‘possible tampe
ring with the face of the man in the video.’

DAU also found the video to be ‘suspicious and bearing signs of a type of manipulation called face swap.’

Using another tool called HIVE, DAU also ‘found multiple points of manipulation in the video’s run-time and where the ‘no-deepfake’ and the deepfake manipulation overlapped,’ according to the VERA report.

The Philippine National Police and the National Bureau of Investigation on July 23 both debunked the authenticity of the video, saying the facial images of the man in the video did not dovetail or match with Marcos’ facial features.

The findings vindicated Marcos from malicious individuals who have been trying to slander the President and cast aspersions on his character, Presidential Communications Office Acting Secretary Cesar Chavez said in a separate statement on Saturday.

Chavez warned the public to be wary of malicious videos and social media posts being circulated by malicious individuals.

‘In today’s world of trolls, bots and deepfake manipulatio
n, it has become easy to throw mud at others,’ he said.

Chavez said the government will remain vigilant against fake news.

He also hoped that the law enforcement agencies would ramp up their drive against misinformation and harmful digital and online posts.

Source: Philippines News Agency