Business

Why Booz Allen’s CTO used generative AI to make a deepfake video of himself

Published

5 months ago

July 30, 2025

To ensure Booz Allen Hamilton’s global workforce of more than 35,000 can guard against deepfakes and avoid potential financial fraud, the consulting firm’s chief technology officer, Bill Vass, embraced an unconventional approach.

He created a deepfake video of himself.

This week, Vass will promote a 30-second deepfake video where “he” briefly speaks to the camera to show Booz Allen employees and other workers how easy it is to create fake audio and video content. Vass contends that generative AI technology has gotten so advanced that a popular refrain, “believe none of what you hear and half of what you see,” isn’t cynical enough.

“You’re at a point with AI and these deepfakes where you are not going to be able to believe any video you see or audio you hear,” Vass says. The deepfake video of Vass will be promoted internally at Booz Allen so that employees “better understand the capabilities and how strong a deepfake can be,” he adds.

Booz Allen has previously trained workers to spot deepfakes by showing videos of celebrities, who tend to be easy targets given the vast prominence of their likeness in the public domain. But there are also hours upon hours of video and audio of Vass uploaded to YouTube, and it only takes a couple of minutes of content for criminals to make a deepfake that can trick workers.

The stunt deepfake video of Vass was created by Booz Allen in partnership with Reality Defender, a deepfake detection company that sells tools to identify AI-generated content within seconds to clients including IBM, Visa, and Comcast. Last year, Reality Defender expanded its Series A funding round, raising $33 million in total capital (from investors including Booz Allen’s venture capital arm) to further develop the startup’s technologies.

Vendors like Reality Defender are betting that processes for authenticating audio and video interactions will become as essential as other cybersecurity tactics like multi-factor authentication, a two-step verification process, and zero-trust authentication, which requires continuous verification of identity.

Alex Lisle, who became CTO at Reality Defender last week, says there is a growing list of risks CEOs and other C-suite executives must confront when it comes to deepfakes. While much of the attention is on social engineering cyberattacks that prey on workers, cybercriminals can also use AI to craft audio files where a CFO “announces” manipulated earnings results, which could move the stock. AI videos can be generated that depict a CEO issuing a fake public statement that could hurt a brand’s reputation.

“Unlike other emerging cybercriminal threats, which require an incredible amount of technical knowledge and foresight, this doesn’t,” Lisle says. Deepfakes, he adds, can be done with “off-the-shelf software and a basic knowledge of technology.”

Top executives at WPP, Accenture, and Ferrari have been targeted by deepfakes, though in the corporate world, the banking sector is a favored target. Half of finance professionals in the U.S. and U.K. have reported that they’ve experienced an attempted deepfake scanning attack. Accounting giant Deloitte has estimated that generative AI-enabled fraud losses could reach $40 billion by 2027, a compound annual growth rate of 32% from 2023’s level.

The cautionary tale that security executives frequently cite is a Hong Kong incident where a financial worker was fooled into paying $25 million to fraudsters that used a deepfake video call to impersonate the company’s chief financial officer. To avoid these types of scams, chief information security officers and other technologists have been investing in defensive systems and better employee training to detect attacks.

Vass, who joined Booz Allen in 2024 after previously serving as VP of engineering at Amazon Web Services, says social engineering attacks would even trip up employees at the Pentagon, where he worked as a senior executive in the office of the CIO in the late 1990s. The Department of Defense would hire external parties to attempt attacks, and Vass says it always amazed him how many times those teams would succeed, even after all of the training.

He recalls another incident at a startup he led, where a former employee sent a deepfake email that was purportedly sent from Vass, while also pretending to loop in the CFO. The note was sent to the procurement office, and a worker ended up processing a fake $25,000 invoice payment.

Generative AI, Vass adds, will only make cases like these all that more common. “People are going to have to learn to change their psyche to be more skeptical.”

John Kell

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NEWS PACKETS

Samsung, Tesla ink $16.5 billion AI chips deal. Samsung has agreed to make AI chips for electric vehicle manufacturer Tesla under a multiyear deal that is billed as a major win for the South Korean electronics giant’s U.S. foundry business. Tesla CEO Elon Musk confirmed on his social media platform X that Samsung’s new Texas semiconductor plant would be dedicated to making the auto company’s next-generation AI6 chip, which is expected to be used in humanoid robots, self-driving cars, and AI data centers, reports WSJ. The win is huge for Samsung, which has lost ground in chip manufacturing, most notably to Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co., which holds roughly two-thirds of the global foundry market and reportedly still can’t meet all demand. Samsung’s investors cheered the news, adding billions to the company’s market value.

Anthropic in talks to more than double valuation to over $170 billion. Anthropic is in talks with numerous investors about raising as much as $5 billion in a funding round that would value the four-year-old AI developer at $170 billion, according to the Financial Times. Fortune, meanwhile, separately reports this week on a class-action lawsuit against Anthropic that could expose the AI company to billions in copyright damages for allegedly using pirated books to train its models. Anthropic didn’t immediately respond to Fortune’s request for comment.

Walmart is “all in” on AI agents. Retail behemoth Walmart last week rolled out the company’s vision for how AI agents will overhaul the way customers shop, the ways that corporate and store employees work, and how vendors sell and track their merchandise performance within the Walmart ecosystem. This range of four AI agents, displayed at a media event attended by Fortune, included a generative AI digital assistant named Sparky that can answer product questions for customers. There were also some internal agentic use cases that can accomplish mundane and repetitive tasks, which is where much of the focus on AI agents has been since companies started to embrace the technology in earnest earlier this year. In yet another sign of Walmart’s seriousness when it comes to AI, the Wall Street Journal reports of key hires, including Daniel Danker, an executive at Instacart, who will steer global AI acceleration, product, and design.

Microsoft-OpenAI contract talks advance. Bloomberg reports this week that Microsoft is in “advanced talks” to secure an agreement that would give the tech giant ongoing access to OpenAI’s technology. The new terms, people familiar with the matter say, would give Microsoft use of OpenAI’s latest models, including if the startup achieves its goal of building a more powerful artificial general intelligence (AGI), a theoretical concept in which an AI system would have capabilities that rival those of a human. The news outlet reports that the pair have been meeting regularly and that a deal could come together within a matter of weeks. Microsoft has already invested $13.75 billion into OpenAI, and these negotiations would also avoid losing access to the latter company’s technology before the end of the current deal terms, which is set to expire in 2030.

ADOPTION CURVE

Majority of business leaders believe agentic AI can manage entire business divisions. EY’s latest U.S. AI Pulse survey, released this week, found that 73% of the 500 U.S.-based decision-makers say they believe agentic AI, which can act autonomously and perform complex tasks with little-to-no human supervision, will “manage entire business units.” But the business community is still quite a bit away from making that level of automation a reality. The consulting firm also reports that 34% of senior leaders say their companies have already started to implement agentic AI technology, though it is only fully implemented at 14% of those organizations.

Dan Diasio, EY’s global consulting AI leader, tells Fortune that the firm’s clients are quite bullish on agentic AI’s potential, but that most still keep a human in the loop to monitor tasks. “The parts of transforming and changing the way the business operates around the technology—creating new jobs, creating new controls that can ensure the technology works responsibly—are still lagging the implementation,” Diasio says.

A big hurdle to overcome remains human change management. Sixty-four percent of senior leaders agreed that the fear of replacement, as opposed to augmentation with agentic AI, will stifle adoption. Yet only 24% said that employee resistance is one of the biggest barriers, as cybersecurity and data privacy concerns each ranked higher, at 35% and 30%, respectively.

Courtesy of EY

JOBS RADAR

Hiring:

– Northwestern Mutual is seeking a VP, chief information security officer, based in Milwaukee. Posted salary range: $308K-$572K/year.

– The Minneapolis Star Tribune is seeking a chief product and technology officer, based in Minneapolis. Posted salary: $300K/year.

– Northeast Arc is seeking a chief information and technology officer, based in Danvers, Mass. Posted salary range: $155K-$175K/year.

– Nebraska Department of Health and Human Services is seeking a CIO, based in Lincoln, Neb. Posted salary range: $150K-$200K/year.

Hired:

– Norwegian Cruise Line appointed Daniel Henry to serve as EVP and chief digital and technology officer, where he will navigate the integration of the travel company’s IT and digital experience teams. Previously, he served as EVP and global CIO for fast-food giant McDonald’s and spent 17 years in various technology leadership roles at American Airlines, including as a VP of customer technology.

– Fulton Bank named Kevin Gremer as chief operations and technology officer, joining the Mid-Atlantic regional bank to oversee the IT and operations teams. Since 2022, he has served as SVP and head of operations of banking and investment services at City National Bank, a subsidiary of Canadian bank RBC. He also has more than 20 years of management experience at Capital One.

– CIQ announced the appointment of Peter Nelson as CTO, joining the software infrastructure firm after most recently serving as VP of engineering at Apple’s Claris software development subsidiary. Before that, he served as the chief product officer at headphones and speakers manufacturer Bowers & Wilkins.

– Everon appointed Ibrahim Kassem as CTO, where he will oversee the development of the company’s commercial security, fire, and sprinkler safety systems. Previously, Kassem served as CIO at security company Stealth Monitoring, as SVP of IT at home and business security systems provider ADT, and as VP of IT at Protection 1 Security Solutions, which merged with ADT in 2016.

– Candescent named Satheesh Ravala as CTO, joining the digital banking services provider after most recently serving as CTO at corporate-governance software company Diligent. He previously held senior leadership roles at financial services company Intercontinental Exchange (ICE) Mortgage Technology and mortgage software provider Ellie Mae.

– Arch Insurance promoted David Maher to the role of CIO, effective immediately. In this role, Maher will lead the delivery of the global insurance company’s IT strategy and infrastructure. He joined Arch in 2024 as international head of delivery. Previously, he served as a head of engineering at Lloyds Banking Group and also held technology leadership roles at banking giants including Bank of America and Merrill Lynch.

– InspereX appointed Ira Lehrman as CTO, where he will spearhead the financial technology company’s product roadmap. Lehrman joins InspereX from digital capital marketplace Clear Bid Global Markets, where he served as CTO. Previously, he held senior positions at fintech company Broadridge, investment manager Nuveen, and Merrill Lynch.

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Business

Hero bystander who tackled Bondi gunman praised by Trump, Ackman

Published

3 hours ago

December 14, 2025

Jace Porter

A bystander who rushed and disarmed one of the Bondi Beach attackers has won praise from leaders around the world, including US President Donald Trump and hedge fund billionaire Bill Ackman, who announced a reward program for community heroes.

Extraordinary footage of the civilian’s actions began circulating on social media on Sunday, shortly after two men, later identified as a father and son, started shooting into a crowd gathered to celebrate the first day of Hanukkah. The massacre has left at least 16 people dead in the worst terrorist attack in Australia’s history.

In the mobile-phone video, which has not been verified by Bloomberg News, one of the attackers is standing near a tree and firing. A few meters away, a crouched man emerges from behind a parked car. He grabs the shooter from behind and wrestles the weapon from his hands. Local media named the bystander as Ahmed el Ahmed, a 43-year-old father-of-two from south Sydney. He was shot twice and is being treated in the hospital, according to reports.

He was also soon lauded for his feat. Trump said at the White House that Ahmed had saved many lives and expressed “great respect” for him. In Sydney, New South Wales Premier Chris Minns went further, describing Ahmed’s wrestle with the shooter as “the most unbelievable scene I’ve ever seen.”

“That man is a genuine hero and I’ve got no doubt there are many, many people alive tonight as a result of his bravery,” Minns said at a press conference late Sunday.

Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese also praised Ahmed, and other bystanders who helped treat victims in the immediate aftermath of the shooting.

“People rushing towards danger to show the best of the Australian character,” Albanese told reporters Monday. “That’s who we are, people who stand up for our values.”

Pershing Square Capital Management’s founder Ackman called Ahmed “a brave hero” and said his hedge fund firm would establish a reward program for people who had carried out similar acts.

The top donor to a gofundme page set up for the “hero” who tackled the shooter is listed as William Ackman, who gave $99,999. More than $170,000 has been raised so far.

Salesforce Inc. Founder and Chief Executive Officer Marc Benioff also expressed his gratitude for Ahmed in a post on X.

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Business

A ‘new era’ in the housing market is about to begin as affordability finally improves

Published

4 hours ago

December 14, 2025

Jace Porter

Next year should mark a shift in the housing market after years of largely being frozen in place, according to Mike Simonsen, chief economist at top residential real estate brokerage Compass.

Home sales flatlined amid unaffordable conditions after rising demand collided with tepid supply growth, pushing up home prices. Would-be buyers became so discouraged that demand cooled and remains slow.

Prices are now becoming more favorable for house hunters, a trend that should continue in 2026 and change the narrative in the housing market.

“In the next era, that story flips. So sales are starting to move higher, but prices are capped or maybe down. Incomes are rising faster than prices, and so affordability improves for the first time in a bunch of years,” Simonsen told CNBC on Friday. “It’s not a dramatic improvement, but it’s the start of the new era.”

His view echoes a recent report from Redfin, which also cited stronger income and weaker homes prices as it predicted a “Great Housing Reset” in 2026.

In addition to potential buyers giving up on finding an affordable home, sellers have been giving up on finding someone willing to buy at the price they want.

As a result, the number of homes that were withdrawn from the market jumped this year. In June, these so-called delistings shot up 47% from a year earlier.

Simonsen said listing withdrawals tend to be owner-occupied homes, meaning they could be latent demand as well as supply. That’s because two transactions would be needed: owners want to buy a new home but must sell their current one.

“In an environment where conditions improve a little bit, we actually estimate that that’s a representation of shadow demand—people that want to move, people that have delayed moves for maybe four years now,” he said, adding that there are about 150,000 such homeowners.

His housing market outlook for a new era of improving affordability doesn’t depend on a steep drop in mortgage rates. In fact, a plunge might spur so much demand that prices would overheat.

Simonsen expects rates to stay in the low-6% range, allowing sales to grow while also keeping home prices in check as more inventory comes on the market.

The price environment is already showing auspicious signs for prospective buyers. More than half of U.S. homes have dropped in value over the last year, but homeowners can still sell with a net gain as values are up a median 67% since their home’s last sale, accordion to data from Zillow.

And a separate report from Zillow found that homebuyers are getting record-high discounts. While the typical individual discount remains $10,000, desperate sellers are increasingly offering multiple reductions as muted demand leaves homes on the market for longer. As a result, the cumulative price cut in October hit $25,000.

“Most homeowners have seen their home values soar over the past several years, which gives them the flexibility for a price cut or two while still walking away with a profit,” Zillow Senior Economist Kara Ng said in a statement last month. “These discounts are bringing more listings in line with buyers’ budgets, and helping fuel the most active fall housing market in three years. Patient buyers are reaping the rewards as the market continues to rebalance.”

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Business

Attacker who killed US troops in Syria was a recent recruit to security forces

Published

6 hours ago

December 14, 2025

Jace Porter

A man who carried out an attack in Syria that killed three U.S. citizens had joined Syria’s internal security forces as a base security guard two months earlier and was recently reassigned amid suspicions that he might be affiliated with the Islamic State group, a Syrian official told The Associated Press Sunday.

The attack Saturday in the Syrian desert near the historic city of Palmyra killed two U.S. service members and one American civilian and wounded three others. It also wounded three members of the Syrian security forces who clashed with the gunman, interior ministry spokesperson Nour al-Din al-Baba said.

Al-Baba said that Syria’s new authorities had faced shortages in security personnel and had to recruit rapidly after the unexpected success of a rebel offensive last year that intended to capture the northern city of Aleppo but ended up overthrowing the government of former President Bashar Assad.

“We were shocked that in 11 days we took all of Syria and that put a huge responsibility in front of us from the security and administration sides,” he said.

The attacker was among 5,000 members who recently joined a new division in the internal security forces formed in the desert region known as the Badiya, one of the places where remnants of the Islamic State extremist group have remained active.

Attacker had raised suspicions

Al-Baba said the internal security forces’ leadership had recently become suspicious that there was an infiltrator leaking information to IS and began evaluating all members in the Badiya area.

The probe raised suspicions last week about the man who later carried out the attack, but officials decided to continue monitoring him for a few days to try to determine if he was an active member of IS and to identify the network he was communicating with if so, al-Baba said. He did not name the attacker.

At the same time, as a “precautionary measure,” he said, the man was reassigned to guard equipment at the base at a location where he would be farther from the leadership and from any patrols by U.S.-led coalition forces.

On Saturday, the man stormed a meeting between U.S. and Syrian security officials who were having lunch together and opened fire after clashing with Syrian guards, al-Baba said. The attacker was shot and killed at the scene.

Al-Baba acknowledged that the incident was “a major security breach” but said that in the year since Assad’s fall “there have been many more successes than failures” by security forces.

In the wake of the shooting, he said, the Syrian army and internal security forces “launched wide-ranging sweeps of the Badiya region” and broke up a number of alleged IS cells. The interior ministry said in a statement later that five suspects were arrested in the city of Palmyra.

A delicate partnership

The incident comes at a delicate time as the U.S. military is expanding its cooperation with Syrian security forces.

The U.S. has had forces on the ground in Syria for over a decade, with a stated mission of fighting IS, with about 900 troops present there today.

Before Assad’s ouster, Washington had no diplomatic relations with Damascus and the U.S. military did not work directly with the Syrian army. Its main partner at the time was the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces in the country’s northeast.

That has changed over the past year. Ties have warmed between the administrations of U.S. President Donald Trump and Syrian interim President Ahmad al-Sharaa, the former leader of an Islamist insurgent group Hayat Tahrir al-Sham that used to be listed by Washington as a terrorist organization.

In November, al-Sharaa became the first Syrian president to visit Washington since the country’s independence in 1946. During his visit, Syria announced its entry into the global coalition against the Islamic State, joining 89 other countries that have committed to combating the group.

U.S. officials have vowed retaliation against IS for the attack but have not publicly commented on the fact that the shooter was a member of the Syrian security forces.

Critics of the new Syrian authorities have pointed to Saturday’s attack as evidence that the security forces are deeply infiltrated by IS and are an unreliable partner.

Mouaz Moustafa, executive director of the Syrian Emergency Task Force, an advocacy group that seeks to build closer relations between Washington and Damascus, said that is unfair.

Despite both having Islamist roots, HTS and IS were enemies and often clashed over the past decade.

Among former members of HTS and allied groups, Moustafa, said, “It’s a fact that even those who carry the most fundamentalist of beliefs, the most conservative within the fighters, have a vehement hatred of ISIS.”

“The coalition between the United States and Syria is the most important partnership in the global fight against ISIS because only Syria has the expertise and experience to deal with this,” he said.

Later Sunday, Syria’s state-run news agency SANA reported that four members of the internal security forces were killed and a fifth was wounded after gunmen opened fire on them in the city of Maarat al-Numan in Idlib province.

It was not immediately clear who the gunmen were or whether the attack was linked to the Saturday’s shooting.

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