Security, Trust, and Social Impacts of Deepfakes

As artificial intelligence (AI) becomes increasingly embedded in everyday life, the ways individuals interact with and use these technologies continue to evolve. What began as basic language models has expanded into a complex technological ecosystem with far-reaching capabilities. One growing area of concern is the generation of manipulated media, as advances in AI have made image and video synthesis highly realistic and increasingly difficult to distinguish from authentic content. These outputs, commonly referred to as deepfakes, are being used across social media and political contexts, raising significant ethical and societal challenges. Despite their rapid proliferation, there remains limited critical and comprehensive research addressing the implications and governance of deepfake technologies. Security, Trust, and Social Impacts of Deepfakes provides a comprehensive, multidisciplinary examination of deepfake technologies beyond the narrow lens of detection alone. While existing literature has largely emphasized technical solutions for identifying manipulated media, this book explores the full ecosystem of deepfakes. Covering topics such as fraud and identity theft, boundaries of free expression, and cognitive immunization, this book is a critical academic resource for graduate and doctoral students, forensic investigator, cybersecurity experts, law enforcement agencies, policymakers, and more.

Manoj Kumar completed his Ph.D. from Northcap University and M.Sc. (Information Security and Digital Forensics) from Technological University Dublin, Ireland in 2013. Dr. Kumar has more than 15 years of research, teaching, and corporate experience. Currently, Dr. Kumar holds the position of Associate Professor at the University of Wollongong in Dubai. In addition, he serves as the Research Cluster Head for Network and Cyber Security @UOWD. Dr. Kumar is listed among the top 2% of computer scientists worldwide. He published over 265 research articles in international refereed journals and conferences. He published over 12 patents, delivered five research-funded projects, and released three authored and forteen edited books. In addition, he acts as an associate editor, guest editor, and editorial board member for various scientific journals. Dr. Kumar is a member of numerous renowned professional bodies, including IEEE, ACM, IAENG, ISTS, and UACEE. Dr. Kumar received the Best Researcher Award in 2020, an Outstanding Scientist Award, and a Young Researcher Award in 2021 from recognized international professional bodies. His specializations are Digital Forensics, Machine Learning, Information Security, Image Processing, IOT and Networks.

May El Barachi is Director of Computer Science & IT Programs at University of Wollongong in Dubai. An Egyptian Canadian Computer Scientist, and Smart Technology Expert with degrees in Telecom. Engineering, Computer Engineering, and Computer Science, Dr. El Barachi possesses width and breadth of knowledge in the areas of Computer Science, IT, and Engineering. Dr. El Barachi is also a public speaker who participates in large-scale public events and speaks about technology-related topics, such as: Digital transformation, smart cities, emerging technologies & their related opportunities, demystifying complex technologies, and professional training in alignment with the industry needs. Using her knowledge and experience, she conducts large scale multi-disciplinary projects in the areas of BioTech, Smart Transportation, Smart cities, Inclusion & Innovation. With collaborators spanning the globe, and a large group of researchers under her supervision, she tackles challenging real-life problems using a combination of legacy and emerging technologies. She is involved in industry collaborations with the telecom and health industries and was able to raise more than 3 million Dirhams in the last 5 years to support her research work. In addition to being a professor and active researcher, Dr. El Barachi holds leadership roles in teaching/learning and research. In her current role, she defines the research strategy for the faculty and ensures that the right eco-system is established for conducting high-impact research. She is also a champion and certified trainer in emerging technologies and have spearheaded a successful executive learning program in collaboration with IBM, currently offering 10 professional training modules ranging from AI, data science, and big data, to cloud, IOT, security and Blockchain, and design thinking. The idea of the program is to equip students and working professionals with important skills that are needed in the industry and complement conventional academic programs with professional hands on training.

Preeti Sharma is an accomplished Assistant Professor in the School of Computing at DIT Dehradun, with a distinguished academic and research background in neural networks, deep learning, and generative adversarial networks (GANs). She earned her Ph.D. in Deepfake Detection from UPES Dehradun, where her doctoral work focused on designing robust ensemble-based architectures to enhance the precision and generalizability of deepfake image recognition models. She holds an M.Tech in Computer Science and Engineering from UTU, where she was awarded the Gold Medal for academic excellence. With over seven years of rich academic and research experience, Dr. Sharma has made significant contributions to the fields of artificial intelligence, machine learning, and digital forensics. Her research is particularly noted for introducing VOTSTACK, a novel hybrid ensemble model designed to detect GAN-generated fake images with high accuracy and low computational cost. Dr. Sharma has authored and co-authored numerous research papers in peer-reviewed journals and international IEEE conferences, including presentations at prestigious forums such as the IEEE International Conference on Signal Processing and Advanced Research in Computing. Her impactful work has been recognized with several accolades, most notably the Best Oral Presentation Award at the Research Conclave 2024 organized by UPES. In addition to her research, Dr. Sharma is actively engaged in curriculum development, lab manual design, and academic mentorship. She is a Technical Committee Member for international conferences such as ICDTA 2025 (Morocco) and is frequently involved in interdisciplinary research projects, including AI-based systems for crop health monitoring and fruit ripeness detection. Known for her academic rigor, innovative thinking, and commitment to teaching, Dr. Preeti Sharma continues to inspire students and researchers alike, contributing to the advancement of trustworthy AI systems in critical areas such as media authenticity, healthcare diagnostics, and intelligent automation.

Keshav Kaushik is an Associate Professor at the Center for Cyber Security and Cryptology, Sharda School of Computing Science & Engineering, Sharda University, India. He holds a Ph.D. in Computer Science and Engineering and has around 12 years of full-time academic, research, and teaching experience. His research interests include cybersecurity, digital forensics, IoT and firmware security, AI/ML for cybersecurity, blockchain-enabled trust, cyber-physical systems, UAV/6G security, and quantum/post-quantum security. He has published 280+ research papers, authored/edited 50 books, and holds multiple granted patents and copyrights. He has been listed among the World’s Top 2% Scientists by Stanford University/Elsevier for 2024 and 2025.