Organizations can now purchase cyber insurance that specifically covers incidents involving deepfakes, thanks to a new offering from Coalition, a cybersecurity insurance provider. This type of synthetic media has been exploited by criminals for various scams, such as impersonating CEOs to manipulate employees into transferring funds or compromising sensitive accounts. Coalition’s policies will now include coverage for reputational harm resulting from deepfakes, along with associated response services like forensic analysis, legal support for content removal, and crisis communications. Michael Phillips from Coalition stated that while the company has been addressing deepfake-enabled fraud since last year, the coverage has expanded to include any manipulated audio, video, or images that falsely represent individuals or mischaracterize an organization’s products. Shelley Ma, incident response lead at Coalition, pointed out that deepfake claims are still relatively rare, making up a small fraction of their claims. Most cyber threats still stem from traditional hacking methods like phishing and exploiting unpatched software. Deepfake attacks, when they occur, typically involve sophisticated actors who use AI-generated content to convincingly impersonate trusted contacts, such as CEOs, to authorize fraudulent actions. These methods add a layer of authenticity that traditional phishing lacks, making them potentially more dangerous. While current usage of deepfakes in cybercrime is limited, Ma anticipates that as AI technology becomes more advanced and accessible, small and medium-sized businesses may soon face increased risk from these tactics within the next two years.