Social media impersonation emerges as a top cybersecurity threat

Social media impersonation and defamation have risen from the fifth-greatest cyber threat last year to the top expected cybersecurity threat over the next three years, according to research cited by TechRadar. The research also found that employee and executive impersonation, including deepfakes, entered the top five areas of risk for the first time.

Fake profiles and fraudulent customer service accounts can direct users to malicious links, phishing pages, fake login portals or sites selling counterfeit goods. They can also spread false or defamatory claims about companies and employees, potentially harming reputation and customer confidence.

Artificial intelligence can help criminals imitate a brand’s tone, create realistic imagery and generate convincing messages or profiles more quickly. Deepfakes and synthetic audio may also support impersonation of employees and executives. Separately, domain generation algorithms can produce plausible lookalike web addresses; 86% of survey respondents viewed these algorithms as a threat. The article notes that these algorithms are not inherently AI-powered.

The article also cites research that found 72% of senior technology leaders said the cybersecurity threat level facing their organization in 2025 was “critical” or “very critical.” It argues that social media impersonation, domain impersonation and identity-based fraud should be handled as connected cybersecurity risks. Companies may need coordination across security, social media, legal and brand protection teams, as well as ongoing monitoring of public-facing accounts, domains and websites.