From unlocking a phone, to accessing a bank account, to setting up a doctor's appointment, important tasks are completed by verifying that the correct face is the one behind (or in front of) the camera.

However, like with traditional passwords, fraudsters have gotten creative about getting around facial recognition security. By now, most everyone understands deepfakes and the threats associated with them. Since, by definition, a deepfake is an altered or fabricated video sequence, cybercriminals depend on a technique known as "camera injection" to beat facial recognition systems.

Some experts have predicted that as much as 90 percent of content on the web could be synthetically generated by 2026, making it increasingly difficult for organizations to discern which users are who they claim to be. Here is a rundown on how fraudsters are pulling off camera injection attacks, what makes it so dangerous and how organizations can protect themselves.

How do camera injection attacks work?

As passwords have evolved beyond numerical and alphabetical characters, hackers have been pushed to adapt beyond the likes of brute force attacks and credential stuffing. Beating facial recognition software requires a far greater level of sophistication, which has led to the invention of tactics designed to trick biometric and liveness detection tools.