Higher education institutions are stepping up defenses against deepfakes after AI-generated voice cloning and fabricated media were reported to enable impersonation, fraud, and credential theft. The threat landscape extends beyond cyberattacks into social engineering, including attempts to manipulate employees into transferring funds. The warning also flags campus safety and reputational risks. Students and faculty face manipulated audio, images, and video that can be used for harassment, disinformation, and damage to institutional integrity—raising the likelihood of costly incident response and policy enforcement. For compliance and operations, the key issue is that deepfake-driven incidents may blur lines between cybersecurity, information integrity, and student conduct mechanisms. Institutions need coordinated response plans covering authentication, reporting channels, and training for staff likely to be targeted. The update frames deepfakes as an emerging cross-functional risk requiring higher-ed leaders to integrate AI-era fraud mitigation into security governance rather than treating it as a standalone communications problem.