Digital Injection Attacks: What Are They and How Do They Work?

Without much thought, most of us are used to unlocking our phones with biometric authentication, such as facial recognition or fingerprint scanning. We’ve grown to rely heavily upon this technology, sold to consumers as adding an extra level of security to prove you are the owner of the product or application you are accessing. From financial transactions to identity verification, biometrics has become a widely adopted security measure.

With this shift to biometric authentication there has been an increase in sophistication of cyber threats. One of the most dangerous, yet still unfamiliar to most, is the digital injection attack.

In this article we will be diving into what digital injection attacks are, how they work and their consequences for a range of organisations.

What is a Digital Injection Attack?

Before we start delving into the impacts of digital injection attacks, let’s first define what it is.

A digital injection attack is a type of cyberattack where an attacker injects fake biometric data—like a digitally altered fingerprint, face image, streaming video or voice recording—directly into a system’s data stream to trick biometric authentication mechanisms or the receiving party.

Using deepfake technology to replicate a person’s face or voice, access can be gained to authorised applications by cybercriminals or to trick participants in a video/audio call. This doesn’t just include deepfakes, but also synthetic imagery or replays of recorded material to bypass biometric verification.

It’s worth noting that these attacks differ from traditional spoofing. The likes of printed photos to try and deceive verification, or even detailed masks are no longer the only methods of gaining access to authorised systems.

Since the advent of generative AI and its ability to produce highly convincing deepfakes quickly, inexpensively and at scale has dramatically advanced this form of cyber-attack. Deepfakes are continuing to improve, and as these tools become widely accessible to the public, criminals can use them to imitate users over video and voice calls.

How Do Digital Injection Attacks Work?

Now we understand what they are, how do digital injection attacks actually work?

Firstly, criminals need to gather biometric data on the user they are looking to mimic. This can involve data from social media, data breaches, or can be AI-generated media. This will be used to gather information on their voice and face, which can then be replicated to access authorised systems.

Next, the criminals digitally inject media into a system. Deepfake or synthetic, instead of presenting their face or voice, attackers inject the fake media directly into the authentication system or call. There are multiple ways this can be done, such as injecting into the camera feed, injecting into the data stream between the device and organisation, or posing as a false application entirely.

The Risks and Consequences

Apart from the apparent bypassing of biometric verification systems or the tricking of other participants, there are a multitude of consequences to businesses and organisations if digital injection attacks are allowed to occur:

Financial fraud

Attackers can bypass biometric security to access bank accounts, send fraudulent transactions or take over accounts. Not only this, but attackers can impersonate senior executives and directors to authorise transactions or tasks. This may seem far-fetched, but this scenario played out in a Hong Kong bank that paid out $25 million, authorised by the “Chief Financial Officer”. A bank employee spoke via video call with someone he believed to be the CFO—only to discover it was a criminal using a deepfake to authorise the payment.

Recruitment interview fraud

An evolving use case of digital injection attack involves injecting fabricated media or altering a live interview in hiring and recruitment. This can go both ways, the recruiters may be scammers aiming to appear legitimate or the candidate is not who they say they are. Candidates can impersonate a person using digital injection attack, in the hopes of securing a job opportunity.

Identity theft

While recruitment interview fraud and financial fraud tend to be industry-specific, identity theft cuts across all sectors and is often exploited for personal gain. Digital injection attacks can convincingly impersonate individuals—particularly when biometric data is accessible through social media or exposed in data breaches. The consequences can be devastating, enabling blackmail, extortion, or public humiliation. Deepfakes, created from just a short video clip, can be used to fabricate individuals saying things they’ve never actually said.

Law Enforcement and Justice

When communicating with witnesses, victims or voluntary suspects, it can often take place via remote communication like voice or video calls. From taking a statement to providing advice, digital injection attacks can severely impact the security of these interviews, as the interviewee may not be who they say they are.

How can you be truly sure the person you are speaking to is your witness, defendant or colleague? In worst case scenarios, this can lead to wrongful convictions and injustice if statements are given which are actually being provided by attackers via injection attack.

Are You Ready for Digital Injection Attacks?

As we conclude, we hope that this article has been informative and provided context to how digital injection attacks could be used cross-sector to devastating effect.

How secure are your current systems and processes? Would you be susceptible to digital injection attacks? Whilst biometrics is seen as an additional layer of security, it is evident that digital injection attacks are scalable, replicable and easy to create with the right tools. So we leave you with this, how prepared is your organisation against evolving digital injection attack threats?