(MENAFN- Costa Rica News) The post This Halloween, Some Internet Facts Are Scarier Than Ghosts appeared first on The Costa Rica News.

Vampires and werewolves may inhabit our imaginations, but in today's digital world, the real threats live online. Deepfakes, malicious bots, and synthetic identities are turning the internet into a haunted house of misinformation, online fraud, and loss of trust. However, behind every threat there is also innovation and resilience: new ways to make the internet human again.

The chilling reality in numbers

• One deepfake attempt every five minutes. In 2024, identity fraud increased. Digital forgeries grew by 244%, and deepfakes now account for 40% of all biometric fraud.
• Bots outnumber humans. 51% of all global internet traffic
• . AI-powered bots saturate the web. Artificial intelligence -based bots can send up to 39,000 requests per minute to unprotected servers, overloading websites and distorting traffic metrics. The commerce, media, and technology sectors are among the most affected, facing high infrastructure costs and inflated analytics caused by“non-human” traffic. The ghosts of stolen identities, zombies of synthetic profiles, and armies of automated bots now pose a multi-billion-dollar challenge to the global economy. Javelin's Identity Fraud Study reported that losses from fraud and scams reached $47 billion in 2024, affecting 40 million victims in the United States alone.

What once seemed like science fiction is now backed up by data. The so-called Dead Internet Theory, the theory that much of the web is no longer human, seems increasingly plausible. Meanwhile, 98% of AI experts are now calling for security audits as artificial intelligence becomes more autonomous.

The line between human and artificial is rapidly blurring, along with our ability to know who is real online. But there is good news: the same technology that is transforming the internet can also make it safer and empower humanity.

Proof of humanity: unmasking digital ghosts

In a digital environment increasingly invaded by bots and deepfakes, knowing who is real online has become one of the biggest challenges of the Internet. World, the global network of real humans, offers a way forward. At its core is World ID, an anonymous proof-of-humanity credential that verifies that a person is unique and real, and not a bot.

It is a new infrastructure for digital interactions in an AI-driven world, enabling organizations to restore authenticity to online interactions: from ticket sales and e-commerce to social media and public services. It is a foundation of digital trust that protects people without revealing their personal information.“With the humanity test, we can rebuild trust in the digital economy,” said Carlos Angel, General Manager for Panama and the Andean Region at Tools for Humanity.“In an era of AI-driven deception, confirming that someone is real should not compromise their privacy. It should protect it.”

The future of the internet must be human

As AI capabilities accelerate, the ability to verify humanity is becoming the new frontier of cybersecurity human behind it.

This Halloween, the scariest thing isn't a costume-it's uncertainty. World ensures that we can still distinguish what's real online.

The post This Halloween, Some Internet Facts Are Scarier Than Ghosts appeared first on The Costa Rica News.

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