Researchers warn that AI‑generated deepfakes and voice clones have reached realism that can routinely fool non‑expert viewers and institutions, forecasting a surge in synthetic fraud and reputation risks in 2026. Cybersecurity estimates show deepfakes grew exponentially in 2025; voice cloning now requires only seconds of audio to impersonate targets. New York Assemblymember Alex Bores argues a technical fix exists—a cryptographic provenance standard (C2PA) that can embed tamper‑evident metadata to verify media authenticity. Campus communications, admissions offices and research units must weigh new provenance tools, forensic training and policy updates to preserve academic integrity and protect students from impersonation and fraud.