The imposter used an AI-generated voice of Rubio to contact three foreign ministers and two US politicians, according to a report by the news agency Reuters. This incident involved the use of a “fake” Marco Rubio voice was revealed in a cable seen by Reuters. An imposter used an artificially generated voice to impersonate Secretary of State Marco Rubio, a report claims. A State Department cable is an official, encrypted message used for sensitive communications between US embassies and the State Department in Washington, covering various foreign policy and diplomatic matters.
The attacker used a spoofed “@state.gov” email address and replicated official logos and branding from the State Department’s Bureau of Diplomatic Technology. “The actor demonstrated extensive knowledge of the department’s naming conventions and internal documentation,” the cable added. As per the report, the individual (who remains unnamed) reached out to the ministers, a US governor and a member of Congress via the Signal messaging app. The cable indicated that voicemails were left in two instances, and in a third, a text message invited the targeted person to communicate on Signal. Last week, a State Department cable was sent to all diplomatic and consular posts, advising staff to alert external partners about fake accounts and impersonation attempts, Reuters reports. The cable (seen by Reuters) noted: “The actor likely aimed to manipulate targeted individuals using AI-generated text and voice messages, with the goal of gaining access to information or accounts. There is no direct cyber threat to the department from this campaign, but information shared with a third party could be exposed if targeted individuals are compromised. Apart from this, the cable even mentioned a separate incident in April involving a Russia-linked hacker who carried out a spear-phishing campaign aimed at think tanks, Eastern European activists and dissidents, and former State Department officials.
In that campaign, a cyber actor linked to Russia’s Foreign Intelligence Service impersonated a State Department official and sent messages to private Gmail accounts, the State Department and industry partners claimed. Get the latest technology news and updates. Download the TOI App.