Biographical Information
Fran Howarth is a principal analyst with Bloor Research, a European IT research company. A member of "Who's Who in e-Business" and a past judge for the Codie awards in security categories, Ms. Howarth has worked as a consultant and analyst for 20 years, including at the Aberdeen Group, KPMG Consulting, the Economic Intelligence Unit, and Quocirca Ltd.
Articles by Fran Howarth
Deepfakes: Overview and How to Spot Them
01 Apr 2024
A deepfake is a form of synthetic content, such as images, audio or video, that purports to be real but is actually false and misleading. The word itself is a portmanteau of deep learning, a form of AI, and fake. In addition to manipulating existing content, the purveyors of deepfakes can create entirely new content where an individual is represented in a false manner, portrayed as doing or saying something that he or she has not done or said. An example of this is a deepfake video from 2022 that appears to depict President Zelenskyy of the Ukraine instructing Ukrainian troops to surrender to Russian aggressors. The primary aim of deepfakes is to spread false information so that it appears to come from trusted sources.
Adversarial AI: Cybersecurity Implications
28 Mar 2024
Cyber adversaries are using artificial intelligence and machine learning to create more aggressive, coordinated attacks. They are also leveraging intelligence such as personal information on targets gathered from social media and other sources to generate more effective phishing campaigns, achieving email open rates as high as 60 percent.
AI-Powered Cybersecurity: Challenges, Benefits, and Use Cases
28 Mar 2024
Artificial intelligence (AI) holds much promise for speeding up and more accurately detecting and countering malicious activities. Forbes has found that 76 percent of enterprises are prioritizing AI and machine learning in their IT budgets and plans. According to Pillsbury Law, 44 percent of global organizations are already leveraging AI for detecting security threats and intrusions. The interest being shown in AI is considerable, leading to the market size for AI cybersecurity growing from $17 billion in 2022 to $102 billion by 2032, according to Verified Market Research.