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Ferrari exec foils deepfake attempt by asking a question only CEO could answer


“Sorry, Benedetto, but I need to identify you,” the executive said.

The Vigna deepfaker began explaining that he was calling from a different mobile phone number because he needed to discuss something confidential — a deal that could face some China-related snags and required an unspecified currency-hedge transaction to be carried out. In May, it was reported that Mark Read, the CEO of advertising giant WPP Plc, was also the target of an ultimately unsuccessful but similarly elaborate deepfake scam that imitated him on a Teams call. “It’s just a matter of time and these AI-based deepfake sophistication tools are expected to become incredibly accurate,” Stefano Zanero, a professor of cybersecurity at Italy’s Politecnico di Milano, said in a phone interview.

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