Senior managers are twice as likely to trust cloned CEO voices

This is despite nearly eight in 10 being confident they can identify genuine messages.

Singapore’s senior managers (35%) are more than twice as likely as clerical workers (16%) to comply with instructions from an artificial intelligence (AI)-cloned CEO voice without independently verifying the request.

A KnowBe4 report found that this was despite 78% expressing confidence in their ability to distinguish genuine CEO messages from AI-generated ones, compared with 49% of clerical workers.

“In Singapore, hierarchy works like a trust shortcut, one that AI-enabled scams are now designed to exploit,” said Kawin Boonyapredee, CISO advisor at KnowBe4.

“A cloned voice or a convincing message from 'the boss' doesn't need to fool the technology. It only needs to activate an instinct not to question authority,” he added.

Meanwhile, 36% of office workers surveyed said they were not confident they could distinguish an authentic message from one generated using AI.

The report also found that only 26% had received cybersecurity training specifically addressing AI-generated scams involving senior leaders.

Senior managers were more likely to have received such training at 39%, compared with 23% of middle managers, 22% of junior managers, and 12% of clerical workers.

Employees at multinational firms were more likely to receive specific training than those at local or national companies, at 34% and 20%, respectively.

The study further identified workplace hierarchy as a factor affecting how employees respond to suspicious requests.

Half of respondents said they would feel uncomfortable challenging a request from a senior executive, whilst 52% worried about negative consequences if they questioned senior leadership.

Another 45% said they would be equally concerned about delaying an important request from a senior leader and accidentally causing a cybersecurity incident.

A further 9% were more concerned about delaying the request, the report added.

Boonyapredee said training and simulations to change behaviour at every seniority level are required to close such a gap.

The findings were based on an online survey conducted by Censuswide amongst 500 Singapore-based office workers from 6 to 11 August.

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