KUALA LUMPUR: The "doctored" video allegedly depicting a high-profile personality has once again put a focus on such abuses of technology.
The case recalls one in 2019 when a former cabinet minister lodged a police report over sex videos allegedly linked to him.
On June 13 that year, former PKR deputy president and ex-economic affairs minister Datuk Seri Azmin Ali lodged a police report over the case.
On Jan 9, 2020, the then attorney-general Tan Sri Tommy Thomas said no one would be charged over the case after police investigations failed to identify the persons in the clip.
He had said that due to the video's poor quality, the individuals could not be identified through face recognition analysis conducted locally and abroad.
The probe had involved CyberSecurity Malaysia, United States forensic experts and an analysis report from a private individual, who concurred that identification could not be conclusively made.
When speaking with the New Sunday Times yesterday, a source said authorities might need to authenticate footage in probes of this kind via facial and speaker identification.
However, the source said with deep-fake technology, it had become challenging to trace a video's authenticity, thus the need for supporting evidence to aid in any prosecution.
This involves a need for evidence such as call logs and other critical information that can be obtained from the original devices used to create and disseminate a video, he said.
"One instance of the authorities' successful analysis using this method involves facial recognition of the individual who shot AmBank founder Hussain Ahmad Najadi.
"Another example is the Datuk V.K. Lingam case, where authorities matched his voice sample with an unknown voice sample from the video," the source said.
Selangor police have said that they have received reports related to a video allegedly depicting ex-Community Communications (J-Kom) Department director-general Datuk Dr Mohammad Agus Yusoff.