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Exclusive: The Role of GAN Image Overuse in the Compromise of Cover Identities as it Relates to Rapid Fall of Afghan Government
In May 2021, Newsweek revealed a heretofore secret program revolving around bolstering the cover identities of America’s spies known as the Office of Signature Reduction, part of the Defense Intelligence Agency.
OSR’s 40,000 employees, some military personnel and others, civilian contractors working at front companies throughout the United States, are tasked with, among other things, creating false, back-dated webpages including facebook accounts consistent with the cover identities of American spies and contractors operating without the authorization of the sovereign nations they invade. One of the tools at their disposal is a cutting edge version of commercially available software based upon the concept of Generative Adversarial Networks. Since Nvidia teased the technology in 2017, great strides have been made, including the ability to synthesize videos using a combination of 3D models of artificial persons placed within a ray-traced composite 2D or 3D environment. Compositing facial features, body parts, and backgrounds from multiple source images is meant to defeat reverse image search technology that might blow a CIA Officer’s, for example, cover.
The trouble is, the technology is not without its faults, and forged images may be readily identifiable. In a world where not everyone has a facebook account, assigning a facebook account to each and every cover identity only serves to endanger operatives, along with, at times, obviously falsified images.
In May 2021, Newsweek revealed a heretofore secret program revolving around bolstering the cover identities of America’s spies known as the Office of Signature Reduction, part of the Defense Intelligence Agency.
OSR’s 40,000 employees, some military personnel and others, civilian contractors working at front companies throughout the United States, are tasked with, among other things, creating false, back-dated webpages including facebook accounts consistent with the cover identities of American spies and contractors operating without the authorization of the sovereign nations they invade. One of the tools at their disposal is a cutting edge version of commercially available software based upon the concept of Generative Adversarial Networks. Since Nvidia teased the technology in 2017, great strides have been made, including the ability to synthesize videos using a combination of 3D models of artificial persons placed within a ray-traced composite 2D or 3D environment. Compositing facial features, body parts, and backgrounds from multiple source images is meant to defeat reverse image search technology that might blow a CIA Officer’s, for example, cover.
The trouble is, the technology is not without its faults, and forged images may be readily identifiable. In a world where not everyone has a facebook account, assigning a facebook account to each and every cover identity only serves to endanger operatives, along with, at times, obviously falsified images.
