Kaspersky’s Global Research and Analysis Team (GReAT) has uncovered adverts on the darknet offering realtime video and audio deepfake services. Prices reportedly start at $50 for fake videos and $30 for fabricated voice messages, with costs rising based on the complexity and duration of the content.
These findings were made after analysing multiple Russian- and English-language platforms.
Previously, Kaspersky had identified deepfake creation services on darknet platforms which ranged from $300 to $20 000 per minute. Unlike these previous services, the current offerings allow threat actors to generate fake audio and video content in realtime at a fraction of the price. The adverts feature several options including realtime face swapping during video calls on videoconference platforms or messengers, face replacement for verification, and camera feed replacement on devices.
The authors of the posts claim that they can provide software that syncs a person’s facial expressions in a video with text, even in foreign languages, along with tools for voice cloning and for adjusting tone and timbre to convey specific emotions. However, it is quite likely that many of these adverts are scams intended to defraud interested buyers.
“We are not only seeing ads offering ‘deepfake-as-a-service’, but also a clear demand for these tools,” says Dmitry Galov, head of the Kaspersky Global Research and Analysis Team in Russia and CIS. “Malicious actors are actively experimenting with AI and incorporating it into their operations. Some platforms feature more sophisticated capabilities: for instance, malicious LLMs created entirely from scratch, independent of publicly available models, which run locally.
“While these technologies do not introduce fundamentally new cyberthreats, they can significantly enhance cyber attackers’ capabilities,” Galov adds. “In this context, cybersecurity experts must work hard to counter these threats. One of the most promising ways to meet this challenge is to leverage AI to boost both the productivity of security professionals and the effectiveness of defensive measures.”