Digital fraud has evolved dramatically in recent years, creating new challenges for businesses operating online. With deepfakes and synthetic identities becoming more sophisticated, companies must deploy equally advanced countermeasures. Chris D. Sham, the force behind faceEsign, has developed innovative solutions that leverage AI technology to detect increasingly convincing digital deception.
Adapting to a Post-COVID Threat Landscape
Chris doesn’t mince words when talking about the moment fraud tactics evolved from occasional nuisances to serious security threats.
“COVID has been the biggest thing that changed the world,” he says. “Everyone’s eyes opened to working from home. Banks started switching to digital online banking systems, closing some stores. E-commerce, instead of brick and mortar, started selling online. ”This rapid digital shift created the perfect conditions for fraud to thrive. Many businesses weren’t prepared for increasingly sophisticated attacks, especially those powered by AI-generated identities and deepfakes.
But what exactly qualifies as a deepfake? Chris admits the terminology can be confusing. “There are two terms, deepfakes and synthetic identity theft,” he explains. “You could have someone making a video of Donald Trump with a voiceover, or someone could make a video of Tupac. But in terms of digital transactions, what many people are afraid of is what generative AI will be able to do.”
Navigating the Security Trade-Off
What makes this challenge particularly difficult is that the same technology making our lives easier also creates new vulnerabilities. “That’s the double-edged sword,” Chris says. “The more we think about making things easier and connecting ourselves closer to the world in the digital space, the more we’re coming up with ideas to build something easier. But that technology, as it advances, becomes something we have to look out for.” He compares it to unexpected consequences in scientific research: “When they developed information for the atom bomb, it wasn’t supposed to be an atom bomb. It was supposed to be splitting atoms and creating energy. But then someone said, ‘oh, it also does this.'”
Using Real-Time Human Verification
faceEsign tackles this problem through live authentication, confirming that an actual person is present during verification. “We do real-time video, audio analysis,” Chris explains. “No matter how much technology you build, it’s never going to replace what we’re doing right now. Even though we’re in a digital space, we’re technically two people in a room together, talking face to face. This is me and not a robot.” The company leverages advanced facial recognition technology integrated with its proprietary systems to ensure secure and seamless identity verification. What makes their approach different is the focus on liveness detection, confirming that the person is physically present. “It captures a video screen and looks for differences,” Chris says. “It scans your face to see if there’s static pixels. It screens you through liveness and behavioral analysis.”
Chris believes this approach offers crucial protection for any business with digital customer processes. “It’s probably going to be the biggest benefit any company needs,” he insists. “No bots can get through it. No AI can get through it: generative, synthetic, nothing.” The system essentially fights technology with technology: “Our AI detects other AI. It’ll literally say, ‘you’re not human.’ It stops AI at its core because it detects bots, fakes, deep fakes, facial analysis, static images, it detects it all.” For businesses trying to maintain security without sacrificing customer convenience, this approach offers a balanced solution.
By focusing on real time verification rather than static security measures, faceEsign helps companies stay ahead of increasingly sophisticated fraud techniques.
Connect with Chris D. Sham on LinkedIn to learn how faceEsign is redefining digital identity protection.
