New Delhi. Nowadays everyone uses the internet, whether it is to shop online, avail banking services or connect on social media. But as technology is growing, cyber criminals are also becoming smarter than before. One day you wake up in the morning and see that someone else has committed fraud online in your name. This happens due to today’s new generation technology ‘Generative AI’ (GenAI), which deceives people by making voices, videos, and pictures exactly like the real ones. This is the reason why now insurance companies have come up with small ‘sachet covers’, which can protect you from such cyber threats.
Insurance companies are now offering small cyber security covers designed to protect against the growing incidence of cyber fraud. These insurance covers, available at a cost of just Rs 3 per day, protect individuals and businesses against identity theft, cyber extortion, and online bullying.
How does cyber fraud happen?
According to a report in the Times of India, cyber criminals impersonate family members, officials or company seniors using fake videos, voice clones or text messages. Generative AI can create extremely realistic looking videos and audios. Parthnil Ghosh, director, HDFC ERGO General Insurance, said, “Fraudsters are indulging in illegal activities by creating realistic images, videos and voices with the help of AI.”
According to a recent report by Deloitte, India’s cyber insurance market, which was valued at $50-60 million in 2023, is expected to grow at a rate of 27-30% over the next five years. As the market and the associated risks grow, insurance coverage for AI-based fraud is being offered with limited limits.
Cybercrime is no longer limited to money
Earlier cyber risks were limited to SMS phishing, fraudulent calls and stealing OTP. Now people have become cautious of these methods. According to Sandeep Dadia, CEO of Lockton India, “With Gen AI, the risks have now moved beyond financial losses to reputational damage and emotional stress arising from harassment.” Apart from this, the Digital Personal Data Protection Act also provides protection against breach of personal data.
Prevention is better than cure
As AI technology advances, the accuracy of deepfake videos is also increasing, making traditional authentication methods, such as voice and face recognition, less reliable. HDFC’s Ghosh said that as technology keeps changing, it becomes difficult to spot these frauds. His company regularly warns employees about cyber threats and provides training on how to spot deepfakes.
According to Gaurav Arora of ICICI, apart from insurance protection, organisations should implement multi-factor authentication to protect financial transactions and sensitive data and use AI-based tools to detect deepfakes and anomalies in communications.