Gal Zror isn't your average security guy sitting in a cubicle. Honestly, if you saw him at DEF CON 31, you might have been one of the thousands of people who watched him "cancel" the entire conference while wearing the digital face of Jeff Moss. It was a prank, of course, but the tech behind it was terrifyingly real. As a research group manager at CyberArk, Zror has spent years poking holes in the systems we trust most, from enterprise network gear to the very fabric of human identity in the AI era.
Most folks know him for the deepfakes. But his work goes way deeper than just making funny videos.
The Reality of DEFCON CyberArk Researcher Gal Zror
You've probably heard the term "deepfake" tossed around in news headlines. Usually, it's about some grainy video or a weirdly smoothed-out celebrity face. But Zror took it to a different level. He developed something called DEFCON VIDEO-ART (Deep Fake Conversation for VIDEO and Audio in Real-Time).
Basically, he proved that with just a few minutes of audio and a couple of video samples, anyone with a decent GPU can impersonate a CEO in real-time. Think about that for a second. It's not a pre-recorded video anymore. It’s a live Zoom call where the person on the other end looks and sounds exactly like your boss, asking for a wire transfer.
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He didn't use some secret, government-grade supercomputer. He used open-source tools from GitHub. He’s been very vocal about the fact that he isn’t even a machine learning expert. That’s the point he’s trying to drive home: if a "non-expert" can do this in a few months, what can a state-sponsored actor do?
Why the Research Matters
Before the AI hype, Zror was already a legend in the world of IoT and network security. If you look at his history with Aleph Research (before his time leading teams at CyberArk), you’ll see a trail of "broken" hardware. We’re talking about Aruba, Ruckus, and other massive enterprise vendors.
- Aruba in Chains: He found ways to chain multiple vulnerabilities together to take over network controllers.
- Ruckus AP Exploits: He didn't just find one bug; he found dozens. He basically showed that the "secure" Wi-Fi in your office might as well have been wide open.
- The Human Element: His shift toward deepfakes at CyberArk represents a change in the threat landscape. Attackers are moving from hacking the machine to hacking the human using the machine.
What Most People Miss About the DEF CON 31 Demo
When Zror stood on that stage in Las Vegas, he wasn't just showing off a cool trick. He was highlighting a massive gap in how we think about identity. In the security world, we talk about MFA (Multi-Factor Authentication) as the "gold standard." But Zror showed that if you can fake the face and the voice, you've bypassed the most basic human "MFA"—sight and sound.
Interestingly, he mentioned that the software he built—a "fancy bash script," in his words—automates the whole messy process of setting up AI environments. It makes the barrier to entry almost zero.
He’s also an amateur boxer. You can see that energy in his research; he doesn't just tap the target. He looks for the knockout blow. Whether it’s finding unauthenticated command injections in network gear or spoofing a live video feed, the goal is always total control.
The Problem with Detection
Can we stop this? Kinda. But it's not easy. Zror has been honest about the fact that deepfake detection is still in its "very early stages." While researchers are trying to find "artifacts"—weird glitches in the video or audio—attackers can just blame it on a bad internet connection.
"I'm sorry Mr. CEO, I know you're the top manager, but I need another verification." That’s Zror’s advice. It sounds simple, but in a corporate culture where you don't question the boss, it's a radical shift.
Breaking Down the "Research Team Leader" Role
At CyberArk, Zror manages a group of researchers who are essentially paid to be professional troublemakers. They aren't just looking for bugs in CyberArk's own products; they are looking at the entire ecosystem. This is what's known as "Red Teaming" at scale.
They look at things like:
- Windows Hello Bypasses: They found ways to trick biometric logins without needing a physical mask or plastic surgery.
- Cloud Infrastructure: Finding ways to hop from a lowly developer account to a full cloud admin.
- Supply Chain Security: Looking at how one bad piece of code in a library can ruin thousands of companies.
Zror’s philosophy seems to be that nothing is unhackable. Everything is just a series of steps. If you have the patience and the right bash script, you're in.
The Tiki Culture Connection
He’s a "tiki culture enthusiast." It’s a quirky detail, but it fits the hacker persona perfectly. There’s a certain love for the "exotic" and the "crafted" in both tiki and high-end exploit dev. It’s about the details. Whether it's the perfect mix of a drink or the perfect chain of 10 different CVEs to get root access, it’s all about the craft.
Actionable Insights for the "New Normal"
So, what do you do with all this? If a guy like Gal Zror can show up to the world's biggest hacker con and prove that reality is negotiable, how do you stay safe?
- Establish "Out-of-Band" Verification: If the CEO calls and asks for something weird, call them back on a different, trusted number. Or use a pre-shared "safe word." It sounds like a spy movie, but it's where we are.
- Trust Nothing Visual: Moving forward, "seeing is believing" is a dead concept. Video calls should no longer be considered 100% proof of identity for high-stakes transactions.
- Invest in Culture, Not Just Tools: You can buy all the firewalls you want, but if your employees are too scared to double-check a suspicious request from a "manager," you're going to get hacked.
- Follow the Research: Keep an eye on labs like CyberArk. They are usually six to twelve months ahead of what the "average" criminal is doing.
The work of DEFCON CyberArk researcher Gal Zror is a wake-up call. We spent decades securing the perimeter. Then we spent a decade securing the identity. Now, we have to figure out how to secure the very idea of what is "real."
Next time you're on a Zoom call and something feels just a little bit off—maybe the hair looks a bit static-y or the voice has a weird lag—don't just ignore it. It might just be the next generation of "VIDEO-ART" coming for your credentials.