WASHINGTON (AP) – The State Department warns that our diplomats are trying to impersonate Secretary of State Marco Rubio Two senior officials sent to all embassies and consulates last week and other officials who may be using technology propelled by artificial intelligence.
The warning comes after a scammer pretending to be Rubio discovered he tried to reach out to at least three foreign ministers, the US senator and the governor, according to Cable on July 3, originally reported by the Washington Post.
Recipients of fraudulent messages sent via text, signal or voicemail were not identified by cable, and copies of them were shared with the Associated Press.
“The State Department is aware of this incident and is currently monitoring and dealing with the issue,” Tammy Bruce, a spokeswoman for the department, told reporters. “The department takes responsibility seriously to take steps to protect information and improve the department's cybersecurity attitude to prevent future incidents.”
She declined to comment further due to “security reasons” and ongoing investigations.
This is the latest instance of a High-level Trump administration figures A similar incident was revealed in May involving President Donald Trump's Chief of Staff, targeting impersonators. Susie Wills. The misuse of AI to deceive people is likely to grow as technology improves and becomes more widely available, and the FBI warned this spring about “malicious actors” impersonating US government officials in text and voice messaging campaigns.
The hoax, including Rubio, failed and “not very refined,” one official said. Nevertheless, the second officer said he deemed it “wise” to advise all employees and foreign governments, particularly as an effort by foreign actors to compromise on increasing information security.
Officials were not permitted to discuss the issue publicly and spoke on condition of anonymity.
“There is no direct cyber threat from this campaign to the department, but if targeted individuals compromise, information shared with third parties could be made public,” Cable said.
The FBI warned in text messages and public services announcements about “malicious” campaigns that rely on AI that claim to come from senior US officials and are intended to trick other government officials and victims' fellows and contacts.
This is not the first time Rubio has been impersonated as a deepfake. This spring, someone made a fake video of him saying he wanted to cut off access to Elon Musk in Ukraine. Starlink Internet Services. Ukrainian government Rebutted the false claim.
Several potential solutions have been proposed in recent years to the growing misuse of AI in deception, including criminal penalties and improved media literacy. Concerns about deepfakes have also led to flooding new apps and AI systems designed to find cunts that can easily deceive humans.
According to Siwei Lyu, a professor and computer scientist at the University of Buffalo, tech companies working on these systems are now competing with people who use AI to deceive them. He said he saw the number of deepfakes portraying celebrities, politicians and business leaders increasing as technology improves.
Just a few years ago, fakes contained easy flaws – mistakes like inhumane voices and extra fingers – but now AI is so good that it's much more difficult for humans to find, giving advantages to deep furk makers.
“The level of realism and quality is increasing,” Ryu said. “It's an arms race and generators have an advantage for now.”
Rubio's hoax has become a prominent figure from someone believed to have accessed Wills' personal mobile contacts after text messages and calls were sent to elected officials, executives and other prominent figures, the Wall Street Journal reported in May.
According to the newspaper, some of the people who received the call heard a voice that sounded like Wiles, which may have been generated by AI. The messages and calls were not from Wills' numbers, the report said. The government was investigating.
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AP writers David Klepper and Eric Tucker contributed to this report.
