Microsoft may need to strengthen its security protection for photos and videos uploaded by customers to the service after the announcement of a major new investment. IT giant M12 venture capital arm has announced its investment in Truepic, which offers photo and video verification services. Microsoft says these systems could be an essential step in helping identify and reduce the growing threat of deepfakes: computer-generated or manipulated images that can be used for a variety of deplorable purposes. Truepic, which Microsoft's James Wu has called "a breakthrough in provenance-based media authentication," seeks to authenticate images using its Vision digital inspection platform, which promises to quickly verify trusted images. It claims to have verified millions of photos and videos captured in more than 12 countries around the globe using its controlled trapping camera technology. This platform digests multiple high-integrity data fields for each file, which are then examined for any evidence of tampering, before being protected by a cryptographic hash. The system then seals any and all data, as well as supporting metadata to support what Wu called a "chain of custody" that passes the files through a verification pipeline testing the file to ensure it remains in place. Safety before, during and after the catch. In the case of deepfakes, this means that any manipulation, be it the image itself or the metadata associated with the image, must be instantly reported to the user. The rise of deepfakes and the democratization of complex image-editing software have put pressure on technology and media companies to fight the spread of misinformation and visual deception,” Wu said. "A variety of technologies, from cheap knockoffs to synthetic media, have lowered the bar for creating content that's admissible to the naked eye." The company also offers Truepic Vision, an online library of "trusted visual documentation" for businesses, with service customers such as Equifax, Ford and Transunion already registered. As a part of the MXNUMX investment, which led Truepic's Series B funding round, Wu will join Truepic's board of directors. Truepic and Microsoft already worked together in XNUMX, being part of a new coalition that aims to reduce online content fraud. Via MSPowerUser