Senior managers in Singapore are the most likely to comply with an AI-cloned CEO voice before verifying it, according to new research from KnowBe4 released during Singapore International Cyber Week and GovWare.

The report, “Would You Know Your CEO’s Real Voice? Singapore’s Growing Deepfake Vulnerability”, is based on a Censuswide survey of 500 Singapore-based office workers.

Overconfidence at the top

Senior managers were the most confident group at spotting a fake, at 78 per cent. Yet 35 per cent said they would comply with a cloned CEO voice before verifying it, more than double the 16 per cent of clerical workers.

Fear of questioning the boss

• 36 per cent of respondents are not confident they could tell a genuine CEO message from an AI-generated one.
• 50 per cent would feel uncomfortable challenging a request from a senior executive, and 52 per cent would worry about negative consequences.
• 45 per cent would be as worried about delaying a senior leader’s request as about causing a security incident. Nine per cent would rather risk the breach than delay the boss.
• Only 26 per cent have received training on AI-generated scams involving senior leaders, and that training is concentrated among senior managers.

Only 10 per cent named employees trusting senior leaders too readily as the biggest cybersecurity risk in their workplace.

Dr Kawin Boonyapredee, CISO advisor at KnowBe4, said hierarchy works “like a trust shortcut” that AI-enabled scams are designed to exploit. A cloned voice does not need to fool the technology, he said, only to trigger the instinct not to question authority.

KnowBe4 argues that tools alone will not close the gap. It calls for training and simulations at every level of seniority, psychological safety for junior and middle-tier staff to speak up, and better verification habits among senior managers.