Person Impersonating Rubio with Artificial Intelligence Contacts Foreign Ministers

SadaNews - A diplomatic cable reviewed by Reuters on Tuesday revealed that an individual utilizing an AI-generated voice to impersonate U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio contacted three foreign ministers and two American officials last month, claiming to be the senior U.S. diplomat.

The cable indicated that this person reached out in mid-June to ministers, a governor of a U.S. state, and a member of Congress via the messaging app Signal, leaving voice messages for at least two of them. On one occasion, a text message was sent inviting the targeted individual to communicate through Signal.

The cable stated: "The impersonator is likely trying to manipulate the targeted individuals using AI-generated text and voice messages in order to gain information or accounts."

The Washington Post was the first to report on this attempted impersonation.

A senior official at the U.S. Department of State, who requested anonymity, said: "The State Department is aware of this incident and is currently investigating the matter."

The official added: "The department takes its responsibility to protect its information seriously and is taking ongoing steps to improve the cybersecurity posture of the department to prevent such incidents in the future."

The State Department cable, dated July 3, was sent to all diplomatic and consular missions, advising staff to warn external partners about fake accounts and impersonation.

The department stated: "There is no direct cyber threat to the department from this campaign, but information shared with third parties could be at risk if the targeted individuals are compromised."

The cable and U.S. officials did not identify a suspect in the incident, but the cable referenced a second attempt in April involving Russian-linked hackers conducting a cyber campaign targeting research centers, activists, and dissidents in Eastern Europe, as well as former State Department officials.