Image by Justin Lane, from Unsplash

Scientists Hide Light Codes To Expose Fake AI Videos

• Written by Kiara Fabbri Former Tech News Writer
• Fact-Checked by Sarah Frazier Former Content Manager

Cornell researchers developed a new technology to help fact-checkers detect fake or manipulated videos, and did so by embedding secret watermarks in light.

In a rush? Here are the quick facts:

• Cornell researchers developed light-based watermarks to detect fake or altered videos.
• The method hides secret codes in nearly invisible lighting fluctuations.
• Watermarks work regardless of the camera used to record footage.

The researchers explain that this method hides nearly invisible fluctuations in lighting during important events or at key locations, such as press conferences or even entire buildings.

These fluctuations, unnoticed by the human eye, are captured in any video filmed under the special lighting, which can be programmed into computer screens, photography lamps, or existing built-in fixtures.

“Video used to be treated as a source of truth, but that’s no longer an assumption we can make,” said Abe Davis, assistant professor of computer science at Cornell, who conceived the idea.

“Now you can pretty much create video of whatever you want. That can be fun, but also problematic, because it’s only getting harder to tell what’s real,” Davis added.

Traditional watermarking techniques modify video files directly, requiring cooperation from the camera or AI model used to create them. Davis and his team bypassed this limitation by embedding the code in the lighting itself, ensuring any real video of the subject contains the hidden watermark, no matter who records it.

Each coded light produces a low-fidelity, time-stamped “code video” of the scene under slightly different lighting. “When someone manipulates a video, the manipulated parts start to contradict what we see in these code videos,” Davis explained.

“And if someone tries to generate fake video with AI, the resulting code videos just look like random variations,” Davis added.

The project leader Peter Michael explained that the team created imperceptible light codes by drawing on human perception research. The system uses normal lighting “noise” patterns to make detection challenging without the secret key. Programmable lights can be coded with software, while older lamps can use a small chip the size of a postage stamp.

The team achieved successful implementation of up to three separate codes for different lights within the same scene, which significantly increases the difficulty of forging them. The system demonstrated its effectiveness outdoors, and across various skin tones.

Still, Davis warns the battle against misinformation is far from over. “This is an important ongoing problem,” he said. “It’s not going to go away, and in fact, it’s only going to harder.”

Image by Jose Gil, from Unsplash

Researchers Expose $73 Million Gray Market for Online Game Cheats

• Written by Kiara Fabbri Former Tech News Writer
• Fact-Checked by Sarah Frazier Former Content Manager

The underground cheating business in online games has been found to generate millions of dollars each year, with sellers earning between $12.8 million and $73.2 million annually.

In a rush? Here are the quick facts:

• Cheat sellers earn $12.8M–$73.2M annually from online game hacks.
• 30,000–174,000 players buy cheats every month.
• Cheats cost $10–$240 monthly, with prices based on anti-cheat difficulty.

According to new research , this cheat market operates through about 80 websites, selling products that include software that lets players see through walls, or AI-powered aimbots.

“People can really make a lot of money from selling cheats, and companies have a lot to lose if a game is seen as full of cheaters,” said Tom Chothia, cybersecurity professor at the University of Birmingham, as reported by WIRED .

At the Black Hat cybersecurity conference, researchers revealed that between 30,000 and 174,000 players purchase cheats each month, with prices ranging from $10 to $240. Cheat prices depend more on the difficulty of evading a game’s security systems than on the game’s popularity.

TechSpot notes that heating websites such as Engine Owning attract up to 500,000 monthly visitors, selling hacks for games like Fortnite, Call of Duty, Rainbow Six Siege, and Counter-Strike 2. Some vendors claim their products are completely undetectable and even offer customization options to fit individual player preferences.

“The kernel is the deepest part of the operating system, and if cheats operate from there while the anti-cheat does not, they can hide everything,” explained EA’s Elise Murphy, as reported by WIRED.

Chothia noted that during gameplay, “your laptop’s probably never as safe as when you are playing Fortnite; anti-cheat protection will actually keep you safe from a whole range of malware,” as reported by WIRED.

Despite these efforts, cheat developers update their tools every couple of days, ensuring the lucrative gray market shows no signs of disappearing.