BBCArtificial intelligence can replicate the human voice so well that it is almost indistinguishable from the real thing.
But how do you deal with voice recognition technology that is supposed to protect people's bank accounts?
As part of the BBC's Scam Safe Week, I've been investigating the power of voice cloning.
Consumer advocate Martin Lewis is among the celebrities who have spoken out. being targeted By a scammer. And I spoke to actor James Nesbitt, who said he was “horrified” by how realistic the cloned version of his voice was.
So I decided to see what my sound was like.
My voice was cloned by the same experts as James Nesbitt's voice. His voice was created for an awareness campaign by Starling Bank. Mine was simply generated using an interview I did on the radio.
It was fun typing out different phrases for my clone to say back, but the real challenge was finding out how convincing it actually was.
My colleagues at the You and Yours office had a hard time telling the difference between the two voices.
But rather than seeing if an AI voice can trick people into believing they're hearing a real human voice, I'd rather see how it works against technology. I wanted to know.
Is it possible to bypass my bank account's voice ID system?
Some banks use a system called voice ID or “my voice is my password” for phone banking.
This phrase allows banks to automatically verify the account holder's identity without having to remember a security number.
That's what I wanted my clone voice to say.
Armed with a recording of an AI version of me saying, “My voice is your password,” I called the bank in Santander.
“Thank you for calling Santander,” came the automated response. “It looks like you are calling from your registered phone number. We will immediately verify your identity by voice.”
I pressed play.
“My voice is my password,” the AI version of me said.
After a very short silence, the bank replied, “Thank you for using your voice as your password.”
I was then asked the reason for the call.
I was in. At least this AI cloned version of my voice was included.
They then tried the same trick on the other bank, Halifax, resulting in another successful AI clone hack.
I should point out that the first login took place in my office and I played my cloned voice on my phone using the BBC studio speakers.
So I then tried it again at my kitchen table in Merseyside using basic iPad speakers. And it worked, suggesting that I didn't need top quality sound.
It is also worth noting that the call was made from a registered phone number. So, for a criminal to break into this method, they would have to steal my phone and leave it unlocked. It's not easy, but there is a good chance of snatch theft.
“Optional Security”
The kind of information you get at the phone banking stage that I got to using AI voice could be very useful to criminals.
You and Yours recently spoke to a woman. I was tricked into believing I was a criminal. The person who called her was from the bank.
He gained her trust because he had transaction information about her account.
When I told the bank what they were able to do using the AI version of my voice, Santander said: “We have never experienced any fraud using voice ID, and we are confident that voice ID provides a higher level of security than traditional knowledge-based authentication methods.” ”
The company said Voice ID is “one element of our rigorous approach to customer security and fraud prevention, with a wide range of comprehensive checks based on the nature of the customer's request.”
It added: “We are constantly reviewing, testing and enhancing our systems to keep pace with the increasingly sophisticated tactics used by fraudsters.”
Halifax described voice ID as an “optional security measure.”
Additionally, “We provide a higher level of security compared to traditional knowledge-based authentication methods, and our multi-layered approach to security and fraud prevention makes it easy for customers to account while ensuring they have the right level of protection.” I am confident that we can provide that.” Make sure you have access when you need it. ”
I also played the recording of my bank break-in to Saj Haq, a cybersecurity expert and member of the UK government's National Cyber Advisory Council.
“Wow,” he said. “I say amazing because I'm disappointed that I can access my accounts using this technology, but at the same time I'm not surprised given the speed at which technology is developing in this area. ”
He added that the ability to use AV audio to bypass speech recognition software is “a very clear example of just one element of the potential risks of widespread generative AI”. .
