Deycom Computer Services Ltd

A few years ago, if someone told you they'd received a phone call from their boss asking for an urgent payment, you'd probably have asked one question: "Did you recognise their voice?" 🗣️

That question is becoming less useful.

Research suggests there's growing demand among cyber criminals for "deepfakes-as-a-service".

That means criminals can now pay for convincing fake voices and videos without needing the technical skills to create them themselves.

Like many legitimate technologies, AI is making powerful tools more accessible.

Unfortunately, that works both ways 😢

One area to be concerned about is what's known as a "fake boss" scam.

Traditionally, these attacks arrived as emails pretending to come from a senior manager asking someone to transfer money or share sensitive information.

Now imagine an employee receiving a video call or a voice message that appears to come from you, asking them to deal with something urgently.

That's where things become difficult.

The technology is improving quickly enough that simply recognising someone's face or voice may no longer be enough to confirm they're genuine.

Does that mean every unexpected call should be treated as suspicious?

Of course not.

But it does mean businesses need to think less about recognising people and more about verifying requests.

If someone asks for a payment to be changed, sensitive information to be shared, or money to be transferred, there should always be a process for checking that request independently, even if it appears to come from somebody senior.

That might feel unnecessary on an ordinary day.

But it's the kind of habit that prevents fraud when something unusual happens 🔒

These attacks are still relatively targeted rather than widespread. And good processes are remarkably effective against them.

Taking a moment to verify an unexpected request is still one of the simplest and most powerful security habits any business can have.

👉 If your employee received what looked and sounded like a genuine voice message from you asking them to make an urgent payment, would they have a way to verify it before acting?

I don't think the biggest problem with meetings is the meetings themselves.

It's everything that happens afterwards 😳

Trying to remember who agreed to what…

Searching for a recording from three weeks ago…

Digging through transcripts because you're sure someone mentioned an important deadline... you just can't remember where.

That's why I think Microsoft's latest update to Teams is a sensible one.

Instead of hiding recordings inside individual meeting invites or cloud folders, Teams is getting a dedicated Recap app that brings them all together in one place 🥳

I think it will save people a lot of time.

If you've ever spent longer looking for a meeting recording than watching it, you'll know exactly what I mean.

For businesses with a Microsoft 365 Copilot license, there's another interesting addition too.

The app can generate AI-powered summaries and even create podcast-style recaps from multiple meetings.

Imagine coming back from holiday and getting a summary of the meetings you missed instead of working your way through hours of recordings 🏖️

That's a much more practical use of AI than simply asking it to write an email.

What I like about updates like this is that they solve a problem most people already have.

Nobody enjoys searching through folders trying to remember whether a conversation happened on Monday's call or the one before it.

Making information easier to find is every bit as valuable as creating new information in the first place.

💭 What's the task that wastes the most time after your meetings finish: Finding notes, remembering decisions, or following up on actions?

Most of us are used to inviting people into Teams meetings 🤗

What's becoming more common now is inviting software.

Transcription tools, note-taking assistants, AI meeting helpers... they're all designed to make meetings more productive, and in many cases they do a great job 👍

The problem is that they don't always leave when you expect them to.

Microsoft has announced a new feature that gives organisations more control over which bots can join Teams meetings.

It comes after concerns that some have continued appearing automatically, even in meetings where they weren't wanted 😬

Every time we connect a new app or AI tool to a business system, we're creating another participant in our digital workplace.

Sometimes that participant can read messages, join meetings, record conversations or access documents, depending on the permissions it's been given.

Most of the time that's exactly what we intended.

But occasionally, it isn't 😳

Microsoft's new approach is straightforward. Instead of allowing these bots to join automatically, they'll wait in the meeting lobby, just like a guest would.

Someone in the meeting then decides whether they're allowed in.

It puts you back in control 💪

I suspect this will become more common over the next few years.

Businesses are adopting AI tools at an incredible pace, but there's also growing awareness that convenience shouldn't come at the expense of privacy or security.

Not every meeting contains sensitive information, but some absolutely do.

And things like board discussions, financial reviews and HR conversations deserve a little more thought before another piece of software is allowed to listen in.

Stay aware of which tools have access to your information and make deliberate decisions about when those tools should be involved.

It's a healthy habit, whether you're talking about meeting assistants, browser extensions or any other software connected to your business.

The more technology we introduce into our working day, the more important it becomes to know exactly who... or what... is in the room.

👉 How many AI tools or meeting assistants do you think currently have permission to join meetings in your business? Would you know where to check?

One of the questions I hear more often is: "Can I trust AI to tell me whether something is a scam?" 🤔

Until recently, I'd have been cautious with that.

AI is brilliant at explaining things, but when it comes to cyber security, being almost right isn't good enough.

That's why I think this latest development is interesting.

Norton has integrated its Genie scam detection tool into both Claude and ChatGPT.

It means people can ask an AI assistant to help assess whether an email, text message, website or online offer looks suspicious 👀

The AI isn't giving its own opinion, it’s drawing on Norton's scam detection technology, which looks for things like impersonation, pressure tactics, suspicious links, and requests for sensitive information.

It's combining the conversational side of AI with technology that's specifically designed to identify scams 🔎

But I don't think people should stop thinking for themselves.

If an email claims your bank account is about to be closed or a supplier suddenly wants you to change their payment details, you should still check independently.

Tools like this could become useful as a second opinion though.

Online scams are becoming much harder to spot than they were a few years ago.

Criminals are using AI to write more convincing emails, create more believable websites, and remove the spelling mistakes that used to give them away 🤖

Anything that helps people pause and sense-check what they're looking at must be a positive step.

I can also see this becoming part of everyday working life.

Instead of forwarding a suspicious email to a colleague and asking, "Does this look right to you?", people may increasingly ask an AI assistant first.

It should never replace security awareness or good internal processes.

But it could help you make better decisions before you click a link or reply to a message.

👉 Would you trust an AI assistant to help you decide whether something was a scam, or would you still rather rely on your own judgement?

If your employees are finding their own ways of getting things done, you should ask why.

Most often, they're working around a process that feels slow or awkward.

But shortcuts can introduce security risks and make it harder to keep control of your business systems…