Digital Doppelgängers Cited as a Trust Issue in New Digital Battleground by Experian Breach Report
By Roy Urrico
“We believe we may be headed toward an information dystopia, where misinformation, disinformation, deepfakes and manipulation make trust increasingly difficult to establish. As the line between what’s legitimate and what’s fake continues to blur, businesses and consumers alike will face growing uncertainty and anxiety” — Experian’s 2027 Data Breach Industry Forecast: Consumers at Risk
Experian in its recently released 2027 Data Breach Industry Forecast: Consumers at Risk report, offered a look at the evolving cybersecurity landscape and the growing risks facing consumers and organizations in the years ahead. The annual report explored how artificial intelligence, identity fraud, data breaches and digital deception are converging to create what Experian warns may emerge as one of the biggest cybersecurity challenges of next year and beyond: a crisis of trust.
As cybercriminals gain access to decades of stolen personal data and increasingly powerful AI tools, businesses may find it harder than ever to verify identities online to combat fraud, suggested Experian’s forecast. At the same time, consumers may face increasing difficulty distinguishing legitimate communications from fraudulent ones and preventing identity doppelgängers.
"Organizations have spent years focusing on preventing breaches and securing data. But with decades of exposed data already circulating, the focus also needs to be on verification practices, combatting fraud and helping consumers determine what and who they can trust," said Michael Bruemmer, Vice President of Global Data Breach Resolution at Experian.
“Cybersecurity is entering a new era where proving authenticity is just as important as protecting data and Experian can help with leading verification and fraud prevention services as well as providing post-incident response support. Businesses that prepare now will be in a stronger position to navigate the evolving threat landscape and maintain customer confidence,” maintained Bruemmer.
Emerging Trends That Could Shape 2027
“This is our 14th annual data breach industry forecast, otherwise known as ‘The Prediction.’ The big thing that is different this year is it's kind of the next era of cybersecurity, which is not going to be defined by stopping breaches, but it's going to be defined by proving what's real,” Bruemmer told Finopotamus.
“There is so much data that's been out there on the dark web with all the decades of data breaches and the new risk posed by the hacker's use of AI with that data makes this a whole new ballgame,” Bruemmer noted. “I guess if you wanted to put it in one word, it would be trust is kind of the new currency in this digital economy.”
The Experian report outlined four predictions that examine potential changes and risks on the horizon, including:
Proof of Being Human Becomes the Hottest New Market: The rise of technologies and services designed to help organizations and consumers verify authenticity in an AI-driven world.“The rapid growth of AI is creating a new challenge for organizations. As synthetic content becomes easier to produce and increasingly difficult to distinguish from authentic content, the ability to verify identities, communications and transactions will become more important.” Several converging trends are driving demand for verification, according to the report. AI can now generate realistic text, images, audio and video at scale. Cybercriminals are using AI to improve social engineering attacks, while organizations are deploying AI across customer service, operations and business processes. As both legitimate and malicious uses of AI increase, distinguishing between authentic and synthetic interactions becomes more difficult.
The Rise of the Digital Doppelgänger: The evolution of identity theft as cybercriminals build increasingly sophisticated and convincing profiles of individuals.Cybercriminals now have access to decades of breached information, powerful AI tools and increasingly sophisticated methods for organizing stolen data. As a result, identity crime is becoming more persistent, interconnected and difficult to detect,” explained Bruemmer. “The digital doppelgänger is an AI digitally powered twin of yours. The hackers take all the data that's been out on the dark web and they recreate a digital likeness of you.” The digital doppelgänger so good it can bypass the current authentication standards, noted Bruemmer. “Because hackers are finding it hard just to breach organizations with parts of your identity, they're creating a whole new likeness similar to a deepfake that they can go ahead and bypass the current fraud regimens organizations have…it becomes a huge challenge for these organizations because of the use of AI.”
Consumers Fighting Fire with Fire: New ways consumers may attempt to protect themselves from identity theft as the number of data breaches continues to climb.“Organizations have encouraged consumers to share more personal information in exchange for convenience, personalization and access to digital services,” explained the Data Breach Industry Forecast. “However, as data breaches continue to expose records at unprecedented levels, some consumers are beginning to question whether protecting their information is enough. ”Rather than simply restricting access to their information, consumers may take deliberate steps to sabotage their data and reduce the value of the data organizations collect about them, suggests Experian. Consumers are already increasingly using privacy-enhancing tools and services. These include alternative email addresses, temporary phone numbers, credit freezes, identity monitoring services and data removal solutions. “Consumers are sick and tired of having their identities stolen. So, they create a honeypot or an area within their digital ecosphere where they will allow hackers to come in, but it is not their real identity information,” explained Bruemmer. “They're creating a deception, similar to when a fighter jet throws out chaff to confuse radar-guided missiles. This is the consumer firing off their own chaff or creating a honeypot where the hackers can go thinking that they've compromised your identity, but they really haven't.”
Breach Notifications Need a Reset: How growing skepticism toward digital communications could influence regulatory mandates and future data breach notification practices.“For years, organizations worried about unauthorized access to systems and data. In 2027, the larger challenge may be convincing consumers that a communication is legitimate. We believe this growing trust crisis will force regulators to rethink how data breach notifications are delivered,” proposed the report. “Most breach notification laws were created for a world where consumers generally trusted communications from businesses and institutions. That assumption is rapidly disappearing.”
“Consumers already live in a world where phishing emails impersonate trusted organizations, text messages mimic financial institutions and fraudsters spoof phone numbers. Now they also include AI-generated voice clones, personalized video messages, synthetic customer service agents and highly customized outreach built from years of breached data,” the Data Breach Industry Forecast noted. “The result is a dangerous paradox: Real fraud alerts may appear illegitimate, while fake alerts may appear authentic. This environment is creating what we call trust fatigue.” In 2025, the average consumer received five breach alerts, according to Bruemmer. “Consumers are feeling breach fatigue because they get these multiple notices and they don't know what to do. Furthermore, the notices have become less clear because companies aren't answering the basic three questions,” he noted. “What happened, why it happened, and how as a consumer do you protect yourself? Our suggestion is that notifications need to be not only more specific, but they need to be actionable and they need to be authentic.”
AI Turbocharging Hackers
Bruemmer compared AI’s impact on information security to a turbocharger’s effect on an automobile engine.
“You're familiar with a turbocharger on a car, which basically ingests air into the gas mixture. When you hit the gas, the turbocharger takes a while to kick in. And AI, although it's been around for two years to 18 months, the hackers are finally getting the benefit of that turbocharging,” said Bruemmer.
He provided an example. “A year ago, it used to take a minute or two minutes of either audio or digital recording to create a deep fake. Now it takes less than 10 seconds for audio and less than 10 seconds for video to create another version of yourself to be used in digital doppelgänger scheme.”
“So, they can authenticate the right individuals, (and) they're going to protect their data. Consumer trust is the new premium now because of AI," said Bruemmer.
Experian Data Breach Resolution helps organizations respond quickly and confidently to data breaches with over 24 years of crisis-management experience, Bruemmer explained. The company's services include breach preparedness, consumer notification, contact center support, identity protection services and global response capabilities designed to help organizations protect customer trust and reduce reputational risk.
