Deepfake Detection for Investigating Disinformation
The new threat landscape is being redefined in real-time by synthetic realities – where deepfakes are a key tool in disinformation attacks, influencing perception, creating doubt, and undermining trust. Synthetic media provides artifacts that fit into designed narratives capable of interfering with democratic functions in societies, going so far as to represent a national and economic risk that is evolving faster than regulatory frameworks can respond.
What’s different about the synthetic media we see today, is that while deepfakes have become commonplace in relation to conflict disinformation in the last few years, especially with regards to the Russian invasion of Ukraine, manipulation of truth through images, video, and audio has now been taken to an industrial level and democratization of the technology has lowered the barrier of entry for all actors.
This means anyone with any agenda, from nation states, to political parties, to activists, can leverage deepfakes for disinformation, propaganda, and manipulation purposes to influence multiple audiences on a global, local, and micro level at the same time. Cognitive warfare is now global, digital, and persistent.
Deepfake-Driven Disinformation Attacks
Cognitive warfare
Conflicts in the modern day information space respect neither borders nor time zones. The rapidly evolving deepfake threat landscape has cognitive warfare at its center, where belligerents and their supporters on both sides are conducting influence operations and psyops (psychological operations) against target audiences at home and abroad.
Sensity AI has defined the Narrative Kill Chain and cognitive attack framework as a mature example of the industrialization of deepfakes as cognitive weapons.
Political disinformation
Modern national security threats increasingly operate below the threshold of traditional conflict. Influence campaigns, psychological operations, and synthetic propaganda are deployed at scale to distort perception, erode trust, incite disruption, and destabilize decision-making.
Deepfake adoption means disinformation narratives can be adapted and deployed across multiple audiences in parallel, whether the objective is to interfere with an election, erode social cohesion, or destabilize public trust in institutions.
Deepfake disinformation challenges
Historically, propaganda has been used to great effect both in times of peace and war. And while modern ‘deepfake factories’ are only one part of the industrial disinformation machine, which also relies heavily on a relevant distribution network, they are the most impactful, capable of literally creating alternate realities. As a result, the theater of politics, and of conflict, has now extended into a new, more subtle layer, of ongoing influence over perception.
Nation-state actors and government-backed groups combine intelligence capabilities, cyber operations, and influence campaigns to shape geopolitical outcomes, operating with political, military, or strategic objectives rather than seeking financial gain.
Fake news outlets publish misleading or fabricated stories to influence public opinion, relying on deepfakes to add visual or audio “proof” to narratives that would otherwise lack credibility.
Hacktivists and ideologically driven groups or individuals use deepfakes to embarrass targets, expose perceived injustices, or amplify their narrative against governments, organizations and corporations.
An additional media verification challenge introduced by the hyper-realism of modern deepfakes is that of the ‘Liar’s Dividend’. Because of the prevalence of synthetic content, individuals or organizations could deny the authenticity of genuine media, claiming the content is a deepfake.
Forensic-grade media authentication for national security
Scalable, automated and multilayer analysis with court-ready reports
Every result includes explainability, provenance metadata, and visual evidence supporting the conclusion. Reports are automatically generated in 30+ languages, enabling cross-border collaboration and ensuring admissibility in court.
Get actionable results in seconds, not hours
With standardized reporting, multilingual support, and strict chain-of-custody controls, Sensity AI transforms media authentication into actionable, certifiable intelligence. Investigators can export structured evidence packages for prosecutors, international partners, or judicial authorities.
Stay on top of the caseload
With millions of deepfakes in circulation, digital forensic investigators are under increasing pressure to work through large case loads. Sensity AI integrates synthetic media and deepfake detection at the earliest stage of evidence ingestion, so every extracted media file can be automatically screened for signs of manipulation before it enters the investigative record, speeding up time to evidence.
Cutting edge digital forensics
Specialist digital forensic analysis tools have always existed, but they are not equipped for detecting sophisticated AI-generated falsifications at scale. Sensity AI analyzes video, images, and audio within a single interface, automatically detecting audio in video, and provides relevant and contextual analysis within the same dashboard in real-time.
