These are the tough challenges Liberia's new president faces

Mocked by detractors as "Sleepy Joe," 79-year-old Joseph Boakai has been inaugurated as Liberia's oldest president ever. He secured a victory in the November run-off election, aided by support from a former rebel commander

International

2024 01 22T134939Z 1465265383 RC20N5AMJP6E RTRMADP 3 LIBERIA ELECTION Scaled — Liberia's president-elect Joseph Boakai, who defeated President George Weah in a runoff election attends his swearing-in ceremony as a president during the inauguration ceremony in Monrovia, Liberia January 22, 2024. REUTERS/Carielle Doe

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Paolo Natale

Front of mind

From West Africa to Latin America: Why the Global South is ground zero for Bots-as-a-Service

With banks, governments and small businesses under fire, Bots-as-a-Service is exposing the Global South’s digital vulnerabilities.

Cybercrime is no longer the domain of elite hackers working behind closed doors. Today, it has become an open marketplace where criminals can simply rent the tools they need. Known as Bots-as-a-Service (BaaS), this trend is hitting the Global South hardest, turning countries in Africa and Latin America into both prime targets and unwilling enablers of global cybercrime.

The Deepfake Dilemma: Can technology and law catch up with AI fakes?

Detection tools are flawed, regulation lags behind, and platforms evade responsibility. Dr Áine MacDermott argues only a mix of smarter tech, stronger laws and human-centred defences can counter the deepfake threat.

A familiar face on a video call. A trusted voice giving instructions. A social media post quoting a senior executive. Increasingly, these may not be real at all. Thanks to artificial intelligence, deepfakes, convincing but fabricated videos, images and audio, are spreading fast, and their consequences are serious. Dr Áine MacDermott, Senior Lecturer in Cyber Security and Digital Forensics at Liverpool John Moores University, warns that organisations and governments must act now.