Introducing Way - Two factor for deepfake calls

Earlier this week, we touched on a subject that's at the top of everyone's mind: the potential vulnerabilities in Know Your Customer (KYC) processes especially given the rise of deepfake technologies.

Generating a fake person for KYC

However, in the age of Generative AI and deep fakes, these once-reliable markers are becoming increasingly untrustworthy.

ml.run - AI realisedLee Mallon

This has opened a floodgate of questions and concerns. How do we truly know who we're talking to or transacting with in this digital age? While we don't have all the answers just yet, we're excited to introduce WAY (Who Are You) as our first foray into solving this complex problem.

Let's be clear: WAY is not the final solution to this issue, but rather a first step in what will be a continually evolving journey. By offering a real-time, dynamic code-word system based on an input and secret phrase, WAY aims to add an extra layer of verification that's much harder for deepfakes to compromise. It's a concept we're excited about, and one we plan to build upon extensively.

How It Works

WAY employs a simple yet effective mechanism for verification. Upon entering your input and a secret phrase, you're presented with a code word that refreshes every minute. This code word is calculated based on a secure hash function involving your input, the secret phrase, and the current time down to the minute. Very similar to how OTP code works but without a centralised authority.

It sounds complex, but from the user's standpoint, it's as easy as checking a text message. By ensuring that this code word matches at both ends of a conversation, be it a text or call, you have another indication that your are talking to who you think you are talking to.

You can see it in action in this video below:

You might be wondering why the code word changes every minute. Isn't that a bit overkill? Well, not really. In the time it takes for a deepfake algorithm to adapt, several code words would have been generated and expired. This rapid turnover ensures that mimicking an identity becomes a hard task for any would-be imposter.

We understand that using your phone number or any personal information for such a process could raise a few eyebrows. WAY is designed with the highest regard for user privacy and data security. In fact no data you input is ever sent to our servers, everything stays in your local browser.

This is just a first start for WAY but something we hope will shine a light on a hot topic going forward in the era of AI and synthetic media.

Give it a try at way.ml.run