Tag: social media

Audio ForensicsComputer ForensicsExpert WitnessSocial Media

Deepfake: An Introduction (Part 1)

on March 17, 2021

Computer technology is one of the most pivotal inventions in modern history. Artificial Intelligence, smartphones, social media, and all related apparatus have significantly enhanced living conditions in an unprecedented manner and connected the world with a click of a button. It is used in various occupations: from business related fields to more creative professions. To say modern technology has been advantageous in recent decades is an understatement. However, every creation has its flaws. This multi-part blog series is intended to reveal one of those flaws, and a dangerous one at that, deepfake videos. This first post includes an introduction to deepfake videos, and the steps taken by federal and state governments to identify such duplicitous content. Special insight on the subject is provided by our Experts.com Member and Audio, Video, and Photo Clarification and Tampering Expert, Bryan Neumeister.

Editing footage and photos is normal practice in our selfie-addicted new normal, but creating distorted content is a whole new ballgame. According to CNBC, deepfakes are “falsified videos made by means of deep learning.” These videos, images, audios, or other digital forms of content are manipulated such that counterfeits pass as the real thing. What makes matters worse is the internet allows anyone and everyone to create, edit, and post deceptive content. It is one of many threats to cybersecurity strategists, police departments, politicians, and industries alike because the purpose of making them is to spread misinformation, tarnish reputation’s, exploit evidence, and to ultimately deceive an audience. The unfortunate reality is deepfake videos which display pornographic scenarios and manipulated political moment are the most common. For instance, a notable deepfake video was posted by Buzzfeed in 2018 depicting former United States president, Barack Obama, slandering another former United States president, Donald Trump. However, the voice behind Obama is none other than Jordan Peele. The video was intended as a moral lesson to explain how important it is to verify online sources, and to highlight the dangerous problem of trusting every post uploaded to the internet.

According to Mr. Neumeister, who specializes in this area of expertise, there are two types of artificial intelligence programs used to create deepfake videos: GANs and FUDs. He states, “GANs (Generative Adversarial Networks) are used by professionals, and FUDs (Fear, Uncertainty, and Doubt) are the homemade ones.” Although FUD videos garner more attention among internet users, the real menace to society are the videos made from GANs.

Videos made from Generative Adversarial Networks have an algorithmic framework designed to acquire input data and mimic the desired output data. One can visualize how GANs work through the viral Tom Cruise TikTok deepfake. According to NPR, the creator of the deepfake, Chris Ume, used a machine-learning algorithm to insert an accumulation of Tom Cruise footage. This allowed him to give a digital face transplant to the Tom Cruise lookalike actor he hired for the video. Ume input a plethora of videos to create a desired output of a realistic face swap. Neumeister also adds that the most realistic deepfakes correlate to the amount of footage a person can acquire. Specifically, “the more bits of video clip you have to put together, the more accurate you can make facial movements, ticks, etc.” From this logic, it can be inferred that Ume’s Tom Cruise deepfake looks more realistic than those that lack algorithmic programs.

Because viewers typically see deepfakes in politics and pornography, federal and state governments have recently implemented laws to counteract deepfake content creation and distribution. President Trump signed the first deepfake federal law near the end of 2019. This legislation is included in the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2020 (NDAA), which is a $738 billion defense policy bill passed by both Senate (86-8) and the House (377-48). The two provisions in the NDAA requires:
“(1) a comprehensive report on the foreign weaponization of deepfakes; (2) requires the government to notify Congress of foreign deepfake-disinformation activities targeting US elections,” (JD Supra). The NDAA also implemented a “Deepfakes Prize” competition to promote the investigation of deepfake-detection technologies. On a state level, there have been laws passed by multiple states that criminalize specific deepfake videos (JD Supra):

  • Virginia: first state to establish criminal penalties on the spread of nonconsensual deepfake pornography.
  • Texas: first state to ban creation and dissemination of deepfake videos aimed to alter elections or harm candidates for public office.
  • California: victims of nonconsensual deepfake pornography can sue for damages; candidates for public office can sue organizations and individuals that maliciously spread election-related deepfakes without warning labels near Election Day.

Although the Trump administration and various states established policies against deepfakes, it remains ubiquitous on almost all online platforms. How can users at home distinguish authentic content from deepfakes?

Mr. Neumeister provides a few tips and tricks for detecting a deepfake. One giveaway mentioned is mouth movement, otherwise known as phonemes and visemes. Mouths move a certain way when people speak. For instance, words like mama, baba, and papa start with a closed mouth. Words like father, and violin start with the front teeth pushing against the bottom lip. To add, consonants and vowels also sound a certain way when pronounced correctly. “Words with t, f, n, o, and wh, are pretty good for tells,” adds Mr. Neumeister. When analyzing video, the frames in which a person is speaking are broken down into approximately six to ten frames to determine if the way someone talks in other videos is the same as the video being analyzed. Another tip Mr. Neumeister suggests is to watch videos with context in mind. Viewers should pay attention to background noise, crowd ambiance, and the cadence in a speaker’s sentences. Authentic and original content would have, by nature, realistic frames. Users can detect a deepfake by sensing dissonance in, for instance, a speaker’s proximity to the microphone or a size of a room. For users at home or on-the-go, these tips are crucial for distinguishing verified sources from manipulated misinformation.

The emergence of deepfake content, its continuously improving technology, and the spread of disinformation is a multifaceted and complex problem. This blog post has only scratched the surface, so stay tuned for part 2 for a more in-depth read.

TikTok Logo
Computer SecurityComputersInformation & Communication TechnologySocial Media

TikTok: Is It The Next Cyber-Security Threat?

on September 21, 2020

TikTok has been the most downloaded app globally in 2020. Although it has existed since 2018, TikTok surpassed 2 billion downloads back in April, during the apex of the new socially-distanced reality engendered by the pandemic. The ability to share and create content such as comedy skits, dance challenges, and lip-syncing clips, has appealed to various age groups around the world, especially teenagers. However, TikTok has been at the center of controversy for raising cyber security concerns not just here in the United States, but around the world. 

The problem with TikTok is twofold. The first issue is the app is owned by a Chinese company called ByteDance. Because ByteDance is not American-based, it does not follow U.S. federal and state consumer privacy laws. TikTok announced the data collected by American users is backed-up in Singapore, which is not subject to Chinese law. Though true, it is possible the Chinese government could pressure ByteDance to relinquish its user information. 

Second, TikTok has a large accumulation of data related to the types of videos Americans watch and post. Because it has turned into an important platform for political activism, people are worried the Chinese government could influence public opinion and control speech. For instance, according to both The Guardian and The Intercept, last year, TikTok company officials told their employees to censor content considered sensitive to Beijing. TikTok claimed their policies were outdated when the reports were released. As a result of this incident, they established a “transparency center” so security and technology experts from around the world can observe their policies. 

Despite TikTok’s official statement, President Donald Trump issued an Executive Order in August declaring the prohibition of all business with ByteDance. Unless ByteDance announces a plan to sell TikTok, the app will be banned on September 29th, 2020. Several American agencies and companies, such as the U.S. Army and Wells Fargo, have been proactive, requiring servicemen and employees to uninstall the app in response to these security concerns. Other countries, like India, have followed suit, banning the app altogether. 

Many people, including computer security experts, believe banning the app in the United States would be an extreme course of action. Not only would it invite questions about censorship in a free country right before an election, but it would affect various companies here in the U.S. who use the platform for marketing purposes. A solution technology experts have mentioned is to implement policies for protecting consumer privacy and measures to minimize data misuse from companies around the world. Currently, with the exception of a few state laws, the responsibility of American privacy and data sharing belongs to companies such as TikTok, Facebook, and Twitter. 

On September 14th, 2020, ByteDance accepted Oracle’s proposal to be their new technology provider. This means Oracle would be held accountable for protecting all user information collected through TikTok. Although this deal is pending approval by the U.S. government, this would keep businesses invested in TikTok afloat and allow up to 100 million users to continue posting creative content. Tresury Secretary, Steve Mnuchin, told CNBC that the government will be reviewing the proposal this week, as their top priority is to keep American user data from the Chinese Communist Party.   

Four days later, the U.S. government announced the removal of TikTok and fellow Chinese app, WeChat, from American app stores supplied by Apple and Google. Distribution, updates, and maintenance will be expelled for purchase unless the Trump administration, TikTok, and Oracle can close a deal by September 20th. Commerce Secretary, Wilbur Ross, told Bloomberg WeChat would be shut down for practical purposes, but Americans could still use the app for payments in China and talk to loved ones overseas. He added TikTok’s official shut down is scheduled after November 12th if the deal with Oracle falls through.  

On Monday, September 21st, 2020, President Trump announced his approval of the deal between Oracle and TikTok. As a result of the ongoing proposal, Oracle and Walmart will share a 20% stake in TikTok Global, a new company headquartered in the United States. ByteDance will own 80% of TikTok Global and allow Oracle to review its source code. Ceding algorithms and other technologies was not included in the deal. Allowing Oracle to review the source code is still not fool-proof as ByteDance could easily instruct the code to send data back to China in secret. Trump’s approval has postponed the ban for now, but the removal of TikTok through American app stores is still in effect. As relations between the United States and China remain tumultuous, the final outcome of the TikTok debate remains to be seen. 

ElectronicsExpert WitnessLivestreaming

Livestreaming App is Window into Your Child’s Bedroom: An Experts.com PSA

on July 25, 2018

Law enforcement officers are warning parents about the LiveMe livestreaming application as it allows predators direct access to children, at home, in their bedrooms.

Earlier this week, I was searching for a new story for the blog. It was a long afternoon of reading news stories and not finding any that grabbed my attention.

Then after a while I found this story , from News4Jax, posted by my friend Sergeant Marc Marty, of the Montebello Police Department. Marc is a leader in online safety and the fight against child trafficking. He teaches courses to law enforcement and government officials via LawEnforcement.Social and is active with the Erase Child Trafficking organization.

It hit me, we generally write stories involving expert witnesses, but we only very occasionally write a straight informational, “public service announcement” post. This topic felt like the right topic at the right time.

I’ve been fairly involved with live video since 2015. In fact, live video is how I met Marc. We’ve attended several live video and social media conferences and I watched him speak about online safety and child trafficking at the last mutually attended conference. I’m happy to see he’s still fighting the good fight!

The livestreaming story shared by Marc, is very disconcerting. The app in question, LiveMe, has some 20 million active users. Before this article, I can’t recall hearing about LiveMe. My guess is the app targets minors, so it is not somewhere I wish to spend my personal or professional time. Unfortunately, it is somewhere sexual predators will be quite active.

I imagine law enforcement will also be active on this platform. Unfortunately, with limited resources, dozens of social media platforms, and jurisdictional limitations, police will only be able to monitor a small percentage of the streams and may be limited in their ability to take action. That leaves monitoring to parents, non-profit organizations, and other concerned citizens.

As the News4Jax article describes, several parents were not aware of what their children were doing on this app, in their own bedroom. Others didn’t even know the app existed (admittedly, keeping up with every new platform is difficult).

All of this got me wondering, what viewing behavior is indicative of a predator? Other than monitoring their children and their behaviors, what do parents need to know about online predators? How should they guide their children? What behavior indicates “grooming”? Which children are most at risk?

I reached out to Marc for some greater illumination on the subject.

Sergeant Marc Marty

As I’ve done in the past, I have asked several questions and Marc has provided some spectacular answers on the subject.

Nick: As an officer specializing in social media, what are some steps parents and others can take to prevent predatory use of apps like LiveMe?

Sgt. Marty: Parents first and foremost must develop an open line of communications with their children. Communication is key!! They need to develop a partnership with their children. If parents are “allowing” their child to have a cellphone, they need to explain to their child that it will be monitored and that there may be monitoring software on the phone. Let’s face it, most children cannot purchase a phone, so in essence the phone belongs to the parents, not the child. Be open and honest with your children. Develop a contract with your child that explains and stipulates the rules and guidelines the child must follow in order to have a cellphone. This is important because when the child breaks that contract and their phone gets taken away or they are disciplined, they have a clear understanding why they are being disciplined. This helps develop responsibility.

Nick: Assuming parents are monitoring the livestreaming use of their children, are there any telltale signs that viewers may be predators?

Sgt. Marty: It’s really difficult to determine who is actually watching/following your child online unless you know them. Here’s a question I pose to parents. “Do you let your child have random friends that you know nothing about? Do you let your child talk to just anyone at the mall as they are walking through it?” If the answer is “NO,” then why would you allow a random stranger online follow your child? Parents should know who is following their child online.

Nick: Are there particular signs that a viewer may be “grooming” a potential victim?

Sgt. Marty: If a viewer asks a child to take off their clothes, or to send a random nude photo of them, those are pretty good signs that that person is up to no good. However, predators will often seek weaknesses in children and exploit them. They are looking for the child who wants to run away, or who is upset with their parents, or who doesn’t have parents. They will look for any type of “in” they can find. They will often simply befriend them and develop that digital friendship online.

Nick: Can you share with our readers some basic online safety recommendations?

Sgt. Marty: Children should follow their parents rules at all times. Understand that anything you post online will be there forever. Never send personal pictures to anyone online. Never give out any personal information, such as address, phone number, or other identifying information. Don’t use your name as a screen name online, make up a name. Cyberbullying is huge, don’t respond to any threatening emails, messages posts or texts online. Screen shot the messages, block the individual and immediately notify Facebook, Instagram, or whatever platform you are on, and it will usually be removed right away. You may also need to notify your local police as well. Children should never meet anyone in person unless parents are present and/or notified. Always tell parents, teachers, or other trusted adults of any messages that are unwanted or threatening.

Nick: Is there anything you feel I should have asked that I didn’t ask? Potentially items you feel the public needs to know?

Sgt. Marty: Parents need to understand that social media is the gateway to child trafficking. They need to be able to communicate and educate their children!! They should follow Erase Child Trafficking and any other organization out there that is fighting against the exploitation of children.

Conclusion:

So there you have it, our first or maybe second, true public service post. The topic is hugely important. These are areas where Marc and I have been active for several years and we have seen some of the efforts by strangers to bully and prey on children.

You and your children should enjoy technology. Just do so wisely. Be smart and be safe!

 

Expert WitnessLivestreamingMarketingSocial Media

Social Media Marketing World 2016 – Lessons Learned for Expert Witnesses

on April 26, 2016

SMMW16Held at the San Diego, California Convention Center on April 17, 18 and 19, 2016, the Social Media Marketing World 2016 (SMMW16) was well-received with over 3,000 participants from around the world. Networking was the name of the game, with recognized brands from Airbus, Allergan, and Amazon to Verizon, Walmart, and World Vision. Platform representatives from Facebook, Google, LinkedIn, Twitter, and many others were front and center imparting valuable social media marketing tactics.

There were a couple of major takeaways from this year’s event. Several things you need to know in order to better promote your expert witness services:

  • You Need To Be On Social Media:

If you are not yet active on social media you are losing precious brand awareness, engagement, and community building opportunities. At a time when consumers and clients are more informed than ever before, you need to have a social presence so your customers can “know, like, and trust you.” Attorneys cannot get to know the real, authentic version of you if you are absent from these platforms.

It is not necessary to be present on every available social media platform. Having a strategy is important. If you are looking to target attorneys, it is important to know how to find them and how to get their attention. We have services to assist you in building your presence on the correct social platforms.The priority is building relationships within your community. If you are regularly creating content and posting it to social media platforms without a community, you may find your content is not being read, watched, shared, or cared about. If you build those relationships and others care about you individually, they will share your content. It was great to see several of those in our live-streaming community in attendance at the #SMMW16, including:

  • Build An Online Community

A community on social media is not terribly different than an offline community. There are leaders, managers, and community members. Usually there is an interconnecting of these individuals for some shared purpose (or shared interest). For example, Experts.com is active in the live video / live-streaming community. There are many active Members in this community and the one thing we all have in common is we participate in creating live video. Although our businesses may be different, we still support others in the live streaming community by sharing their content.

Mitch-and-Jeff

Mitch Jackson, Esq. and Jeff Weinstein, Esq.

The priority is building relationships within your community. If you are regularly creating content and posting it to social media platforms without a community, you may find your content is not being read, watched, shared, or cared about. If you build those relationships and others care about you individually, they will share your content.

Nick and Jeff Weinstein

Ivan Raiklin, Esq. and Nick Rishwain

It was great to see several of those in our live-streaming community in attendance at the #SMMW16. Just a few with whom we were able to spend significant time include:

  • Live Video is the Future of Marketing

Here are just a few facts that were shared by Mike Stelzner, CEO of the Social Media Examiner (host of the conference).

  • 73% of marketers use video in 2016
  • Only 14% of marketers are using Live Video
  • In May of 2015, there were 2 billion videos viewed daily
  • In February of 2016, there were 8 billion videos viewed daily

The following platforms have bet big on live video (a.k.a. live streaming, social video): Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, Snapchat, Blab. Each of these companies has a major live-stream component or is entirely live video as a product/tool. Facebook now gives priority to video content in its news feed. Other content will fall below live video in your news feed.

Live video allows you to increase the” know, like, and trust” factor better than anything else, according to social selling strategist, Kim Garst.

Our friend, Mitch Jackson, Esq., has said he wants to “see and hear the expert” before hiring him or her as an expert witness. Seeing and hearing an expert witness provides endless value to attorneys as they get an idea of how you sound and perform. Live video allows you to do this authentically.

As live video is the future of marketing, we highly recommend getting comfortable with live streaming sooner rather than later. Join Us to become a pioneer in the live video community. Improve your visibility, professionalism, and authenticity with live video marketing. If you do not know how to begin, reach out to us at info@experts.com.

Nick Rishwain, JD.
Vice President of Client Relations, Experts.com.

AdvertisingConsultantsExpert WitnessLawyersLivestreaming

Expert Witnesses Embrace Digital Media Platforms – Interview with Attorney Mitch Jackson

on October 27, 2015

On October 14, 2015, Experts.com interviewed Expert Witness and 2013 California Lawyer of the Year, Mitch Jackson, on the benefits of Expert Witnesses embracing digital media to promote their services. To watch the interview, click the link below.

Mitch Jackson was admitted to the California Bar in 1986 and immediately opened up his own practice representing victims of personal injury and wrongful death. In 2009, Mr. Jackson was named Orange County “Trial Lawyer of the Year,” by the Orange County Trial Lawyers Association. In 2013, he received the California Lawyer Attorneys of the Year (CLAY) Award for litigation. According to California Lawyer Magazine, the CLAY Award recognizes attorneys who have changed the law, substantially influenced public policy or the profession, or achieved a remarkable victory for a client or for the public and have made a profound impact on the law. Mr. Jackson is also an expert witness in legal malpractice matters.

Mr. Jackson is an active social media influencer with a strong presence on Twitter, Facebook, Periscope, Blab, Instagram, among others. In addition to his legal practice, Mitch Jackson maintains several websites promoting: livestreaming, communication, Rotary service, and, most importantly, “Being Human.” To learn more about Mitch Jackson, his practice, and his social influence, visit the following sites:

http://jacksonandwilson.com/
http://streaminglawyer.com
http://human.social/

Experts.com was established to allow professionals a platform to showcase their areas of Expertise. Since 1994, we have been providing millions of users worldwide with access to specialized knowledge. We believe our members should have control over monetizing their specialized knowledge and expertise. In this day in age of high technology, there is no need for a broker or middle man to mark up fees or market your expertise. Put your best foot forward with Experts.com.