McAfee may be the well known antivirus software solution everyone at one point or another had installed on their laptops, but modern problems are pushing the cybersecurity company to expand their offerings to keep its customers safe.
No longer is it enough to just defend consumers’ computers against malware. Now deepfakes, spurred by the explosion of AI, are posing fresh concerns for users. No longer will data or confidential details have to be stolen, as deepfakes could see a wave of people willingly hand it over to what they believe is a friend, colleague, or even a celebrity reaching out to them.
McAfee have luckily been one of the pioneers to tackle what they have rightly recognised as a dangerous and growing problem. Partnering with Intel, they have developed a solution to detect deepfakes, and Vonny Gamot, Head of Sales EMEA at McAfee has been part of the campaign to spearhead to the wider world the problems incoming and why McAafee’s solutions like this, alongside its other endeavours with AI, are needed.
Cyber Magazine therefore sat down with Vonny to find out more about her efforts, and a little bit about the person behind them.
Q: You started your career in the FMCG sector at P&G before transitioning to the IT industry 18 years ago. What motivated this shift, and how did your early experiences shape your approach to business development in the tech sector? A: I am very lucky to have started my career at a time when the internet and mobile technologies were just taking off. Realising the potential of these innovations early on, drew me to first consider and then finally work directly in the IT industry. Seeing how technology has continued to advance in such a short space of time, has kept me interested and excited
about this industry. I am particularly passionate about companies that push the boundaries of what’s possible and do something that matters. I think that you need to have passion like this to succeed in sales and business development. It’s a truly exciting time to be at McAfee, as we arm consumers with the tools they need for online protection in the age of AI, so they can continue to live their online lives confidently, safely and securely.
Q: With extensive experience in both hardware and software industries, how do you adapt to the rapid technological changes over the years, particularly in the context of Cybersecurity?
A: The rapid pace of technological change is what keeps my job so interesting! It’s easy to adapt when you enjoy what you’re doing and the teams you are working with. In terms of cybersecurity, I love the idea of keeping one step ahead of the “bad guys” and knowing that our work at McAfee is contributing to a safer, more secure world. Overall, it’s a very rewarding field to be in and such an important mission.
Q: You have a strong understanding of subscription-based business models. How has this expertise influenced your strategies for customer acquisition and retention at McAfee?
A: Across all sectors, businesses have realised with inflation and the rising cost of living that one-off, upfront payments are inaccessible for many consumers. A subscription-based model allows customers to spread the cost throughout the year while having the flexibility to cancel and rejoin at a later date. At McAfee, we think this flexibility and accessibility is particularly important to allow as many people as possible to benefit from the latest innovations in online protection.
Subscriptions therefore make our solutions affordable. We believe that security shouldn’t be a privilege and should be accessible to everyone.
Q: As the VP Sales and Head of EMEA Consumer Business at McAfee, what are your primary goals and strategic initiatives? How do you drive growth and achieve breakthrough results in this role?
A: My primary goal is to ensure that McAfee continues to be the leader in consumer online protection for the age of AI. Key to bringing this to life is working with strategic partners - across the region and in multiple verticals - who share the same passion and commitment to online protection, so that we can collaborate effectively and drive mutual growth.
Q: Given your role in sales, what cybersecurity trends have you noticed through McAfee sales data? How do these trends influence your sales strategies and customer engagement?
A: The threat landscape is constantly evolving and consumers need comprehensive, all in one protection solutions for their devices, that not only protect them from the threat of today but are also ready for the threat of tomorrow, including AI-generated scams and disinformation. At the moment, there is a huge need for advanced detection tools that allow consumers to tell fact from fiction so they can continue trusting what they see and read online.
Q: How do you manage to convey to your clients/customers the scope/gravity or even technicality of McAfee’s product, its latest offerings, and importance - especially to decision makers who are not technically trained?
A: With advanced and in-depth technological capabilities, it’s true that it can be difficult to convey the scope and gravity of our solutions but we have made huge progress in this area. We focus on highlighting the challenges that consumers face, and delivering demand generation tools that help our partners to initiate the conversion in their stores and call centres, educating and bringing awareness to the latest online threats, while providing the expertise and solutions that make protection easy. Training our partners’ staff is also key to echo our branding and messaging to end users. Then the proof is in the pudding!
Q: McAfee has developed new technology to tackle deepfakes. Can you elaborate on the development and impact of the Deepfake Detector and how it helps protect consumers from AI-generated threats?
A: Initially announced at CES earlier this year under the name Project Mockingbird, we have been developing a first-of-its-kind solution to help consumers discern what’s real and what’s fake at a time when deepfakes and AI-generated disinformation are filtering into our everyday lives through news and social media. McAfee’s Deepfake Detector is a tool which uses advanced AI detection techniques including transformer-based Deep Neural Network models expertly trained to detect and notify consumers, in real-time, when audio in a video is likely generated or manipulated by AI.
Q: How did your partnership with Intel help in its development?
A: By leveraging Intel Core Ultra processor NPU and McAfee’s AI models complete inference (the analysis and detection of a deepfake) locally, without needing to send private user information to the cloud. We have measured as much as a 300% performance improvement on the same model by leveraging the NPU. This enhanced performance, combined with the privacy advantages of local model execution, and improved battery life, provides substantial benefits to the customer.
And while we are proud to partner with Intel, another innovative, consumer-focused technology leader focused on delivering solutions to address the very real needs of consumers today, this is not an exclusive partnership.
Q: With the rise in BEC, social engineering and deepfakes, does McAfee see the need to focus on developing solutions for deepfakes for its business customers too?
A: In today’s world with elections happening in many countries around the world, celebrity and influencer names and images being misused on social media, global conflicts ramping up charity fraud, etc., our primary focus is on protecting consumers as they are facing deepfakes and misinformation on a regular basis through news and social media.
Q: What other areas is McAfee interested in exploring with AI to give an even better Offering?
A: As technology, including AI, continues to advance, so do the cybercriminals who are trying to find new ways to scam consumers and steal their information and/or money. We are always improving our solutions to ensure consumers get the very latest in online protection, and that means using AI to beat AI, as well. McAfee Scam Protection is a new feature which uses AI to automatically detect and proactively block scam emails and texts in real time, before someone gets a chance to click on a nefarious link. And even if someone were to click on a link accidentally then the website would still be blocked by our AI technology.
Q: What are some of the biggest challenges you are hearing of in the cybersecurity landscape today, and how is McAfee addressing these challenges to stay ahead of Cybercriminals?
A: The biggest challenge we’re seeing right now is in the proliferation of AI-generated scams, disinformation and deepfakes. Through McAfee’s AI-powered Scam Protection and the Deepfake Detector, we are addressing these challenges head on, to help consumers continue to live their lives online safely and securely.
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