Simone Volpi
A sensitive topic that is important to address
He has been fascinated by the effects of ‘deep fake’ for some time now, which is why Simone Volpi chose this topic for his talk at the Cyber Security & Cloud Expo 2023 in Amsterdam.
As an expert in cyber security, Simone is a chapter and area lead with responsibility for global fraud prevention at ING, and in particular for the security and reliability of the Wholesale Banking channels. His talk is focused on cyber security and the malicious use of deep fake.
A topical and intriguing subject
“The topic of my presentation is quite sensitive. We don’t want to give away everything ING does related to cyber security, but at the same time we feel it’s important to share our knowledge about such a topical and intriguing subject as deep fake and the risks it can pose to integrity and security. I’ve been immersing myself in this subject for some time now. It really fascinates me, and I’m very keen to share my findings and insights.”
Shockwaves through the financial world
In his talk called ‘Uncovering the Deception,Exploring the Rise and Risks of Deep Fake’, Simone covers a journey into the world of deep fake and its misuse from a cyber security perspective. “Deep fake technology was probably best known for its use in ‘revenge porn’ videos aimed at blackmailing people, until the first case in the banking world came to light in 2020. A UK bank lost a huge sum of money when the CIO was scammed by a deep fake audio, which sent shockwaves through the financial world.”
Educate, recognise, prevent
“A critical part of my talk is about how artificial synthetic media like fake images can make a huge impact on the stock market. In fact, this actually happened not long ago. We should educate ourselves about the potential dangers of these new technologies, in order to recognise and then prevent them. All kinds of information is stolen and used for malicious purposes. Even respectable social media platforms like LinkedIn are not without fake profiles. Applying the trends to the banking context means asking ourselves questions: How can we be sure that a new client opening a bank account is real? How can we know that the face used for face authentication is really the authorised person? My talk will provide more insight into why it’s important to remain vigilant.”
About Simone
Italian-born Simone has a master’s degree in computer science and cyber security. He joined ING as an engineer in fraud prevention in 2016. Prior to that, he worked in the US and at the Vatican City State (The Holy See), as an information security engineer for the Vatican Museum. Outside of work, Simone uses his knowledge to help Europol on a voluntary basis. He is a father of two young children.