Season 8, Post 20: If everything can be faked…

It is rare to meet a scientist with a background in philosophy. It is even rarer to encounter one who is working on a problem that is, in his own words, “constantly moving.” Your author recently sat down with Dr Andrew Newell, the Chief Scientific Officer of iProov, someone who ticks both these boxes, for a wide-ranging conversation on the pertinent topics of artificial intelligence, cybersecurity and identity.

Begin from the premise, says Andrew (whom we last interviewed in Blog post #6 from Season 4), that “everything digital can ultimately be copied or replicated.” It is therefore critical to build trust, for “if you don’t have trust, then everything else is meaningless.” This is consistent with our long-standing data deluge thesis which argues that data have no value unless stored, secured and analysed.

AI has “always been coming,” but recent advances have been “unexpected” in their pace, changing the rules of the game for organisations such as iProov that help protect governments, financial institutions and global enterprises against identity fraud, as well as malicious actors. Many readers may be familiar with deepfakes, but these represent just one form of identity compromise. Andrew was of the view that there are thousands of attack tools available to bad actors. When asked how many, the response was that, when combined in different ways, more than 100,000 different attack vectors might exist.

With a threat landscape as complicated as this, it would, however, be “wrong” to think that the battle is lost. Andrew was of the view that the job of a business such as iProov is to “fit defences to the attack landscape.” Don’t seek to build an “unbreakable system… just to stay ahead.” In practical terms, attackers only care whether they pass or fail in their attempts to compromise organisations. The mantra of iProov is to learn from each instance (and its data trail) and improve via “constant optimisation.” Sharing best practices with the rest of the industry allows everyone to benefit.

We have long argued that technology is an enabler and a force for positive change. Andrew was strongly of the view that the biggest risk to the identity security industry was “misinterpretation” – or that we were already past peak trust. Even if self-serving, the most important thing is to ensure the widespread deployment of “good” technology to governments and other institutions such as banks where trust matters most. The imperative is to “democratise technology” so that it does not become something for “the exclusive use of the few.” Such an outcome would be “terrible.” We concur.

9 June 2026

The above is provided for information purposes only and does not constitute investment advice or a recommendation to buy or sell any security. Any forward-looking statements are based on assumptions that may change. The views expressed are solely those of the author at the time of writing. This article should not be relied upon for investment decisions. Past performance does not predict future returns, the value of investments and income from them can fall as well as rise.