AI Nudify Apps: The Deepfake Crisis No One Warns You About

Some secrets deserve to be kept. Others should never have existed in the first place. In this episode of SipCyber, Jen Lotze takes us to Bucci Cubano in Leadville, Colorado, for Cuban coffee, slow roasted pork, and a secret recipe the owner trusted her to keep, before turning to a very different kind of secret: the AI "nudify" apps generating fake explicit images of real people without their consent. 

San Francisco's city attorney is now pressing Apple and Google to pull these apps from their stores. They take an ordinary, fully clothed photo, whether pulled from social media, a school website, or a company profile, and use AI to fabricate a convincing explicit image that never actually happened. Jen breaks down why this isn't just a technology problem, but a trust problem, and what families and businesses can do about it right now. 

Key Topics Covered: 

• How AI nudify apps turn an ordinary photo into a fabricated explicit image 
• Why San Francisco's city attorney wants Apple and Google to remove these apps 
• The real harm behind fake images: bullying, blackmail, and reputational damage 
• How to talk to kids, family, and friends before it becomes personal 
• Why businesses need to expand security awareness beyond phishing emails to AI-generated fakes 

This isn't about fear. It's about awareness. The same instinct that protects you from a phishing email should protect the people you care about from a fabricated photo. 

☕ Featured Spot: Bucci Cubano, Leadville, CO 

Trust is the difference between a secret that's shared and a violation that's created. Subscribe for weekly cybersecurity insights from the best local coffee spots across the country, and share this episode with anyone who has kids, employees, or a phone.  

#AI #DeepfakeAbuse #CyberSecurity #DigitalSafety #AIethics #InfoSec #SipCyber #OnlineSafety #ChildSafety #TechEthics #NudifyApps #DigitalConsent 

Transcript

Jen Lotze 0:04

Hey there, coffee lovers and internet explorers. Welcome back to Sip Cyber, where we're always searching for two things: the perfect cup of coffee and the simplest way to keep your digital life safe. Some places become favorites because of the food. Others become favorites because of the people. Bucci Cubano became both. Just a few months ago, I was sitting in my tattoo artist shop in Leadville, Colorado. We were talking about the places the locals love, and he asked if I had ever been to the Cuban restaurant down the street. I hadn't, so we went. The first thing I fell in love with was their Cuban coffee. Amazing doesn't quite cover it. Rich, sweet, bold. One of those cups of coffee that make you slow down because you don't want it to end. I was back in Leadville again just last week, and one of the first places I wanted to zit was Buki Cubano. That's when I realized it had already become part of my Leadville tradition. I had the chance to meet the owner and I liked her immediately. She was so kind, the kind of person who makes you feel welcome before you've even finished ordering. Inside, warm wood gives the restaurant this cozy feeling that invites you to stay a while. And outside, the patio opens up to the mountains. You take a deep breath, look around, and remember what fresh Colorado air feels like. It's one of those places where the scenery quietly reminds you that life doesn't always have to move so fast. And then, most importantly, there's the roasted pork, slow roasted pork. It's unlike anything I've ever had. And that says a lot. I come from a meat family, to the point where my dad used to be called the Sausage King of Chicago. When I was there last, I finally asked what made it so different. And the owner smiled. And she told me, people have asked me what it is. My answer? Go to Leadville. Because some secrets aren't meant to be posted online. They're meant to be experienced. They're part of the story, part of the tradition, part of what makes a place worth coming back to. And that conversation stayed with me this week after reading about something that couldn't be more different. San Francisco's city attorney is asking Apple and Google to remove AI nudify apps from their app stores. These apps use artificial intelligence to take an ordinary, fully clothed photo of someone and generate a fake, explicit image that looks remarkably real even though it never existed. What makes this especially disturbing isn't just the technology. It's how easy this has become. Someone can download a photo from social media or a school website or even a company profile. The AI model studies the image, learns the patterns from millions of other photos, and predicts what it thinks belongs underneath the clothing and creates a completely fabricated image in seconds. The person in the picture never agreed to this. The image isn't real. But the embarrassment, the bullying, the blackmail, the damage to one's reputation, those are very real things. The owner of Bucci Civano trusted me with her secret recipe. She had a choice, and I get to make a choice too. I could tell everyone what the secret was that she shared with me, but I won't. Because trust means respecting what someone chooses to share. The people targeted by these AI apps don't get that same choice. Someone else takes their photo, someone else invents a story, someone else violates their privacy. One secret is shared through trust. The other is created through betrayal. And that brings me to one small step that can make a real difference. Have this conversation before it becomes personal. If you have kids, grandkids, family members, friends, let them know that these apps exist. Help them understand that not every image online is real anymore, and that if they ever become a victim, they should tell someone they trust immediately. This is a crime. So please, please, please know where to go for help. If you own a business, expand your security awareness conversations beyond just suspicious emails. AI can now generate convincing invoices, images, voice calls alongside those convincing emails. The more your team understands what these tools can do, the better prepared they'll be to recognize when something isn't real. Awareness isn't about fear. It's about protecting the people we care about. I know the secret ingredient now. And honestly, I hope I always do. Not because it's a recipe, but because someone trusted me enough to share it. Some things become special because they're shared with care and protected with intention. Our recipes, our family stories, our privacy. The digital world would be a much kinder place if we treated all three the same way. Thanks for joining me on this trip to Bucci Cubano in Leadville and for taking one small step to secure a digital life. Until then, stay safe, stay human, and keep sipping.