Media Authentication
Media authenticity requires more than an AI detector.
Rune Forensics examines images, video, and audio for authenticity and manipulation indicators, considering metadata, file structure, encoding characteristics, provenance, and the surrounding record rather than a single automated result.
Considers: Metadata · Encoding & Structure · Provenance · Context
What is being authenticated?
The file being examined is not always the file that was created.
The same image or recording may exist as an original file, a messaging-app copy, a social media download, a screen recording, a screenshot, or a re-encoded export. Identifying which of these is actually available is a starting point for the analysis, not an afterthought.
Original source files are generally preferable because social media downloads, screenshots, and recompressed copies may remove important technical evidence.
Authentication questions
The questions a review can address, and the ones that stay open.
Origin
Is this the original available file, or a copy?
History
Has the file been re-encoded, exported, or transcoded?
Metadata
Does available metadata support the claimed origin?
Editing
Are there indications of editing or manipulation?
AI indicators
Are characteristics consistent with AI-generated or altered media?
Conclusions
What conclusions are supported, and what remains uncertain?
Media analysis
No single characteristic answers the question by itself.
Metadata, file structure, encoding, and visual or audio examination are reviewed together and against provenance and any available source material, not as a checklist of isolated features.
Metadata
File and application metadata
Timestamps and fields recorded by the device or application at capture, export, or transfer.
Structure
File structure and encoding
Container format, codec, compression, and encoding characteristics tied to the file type.
Examination
Visual and audio review
Frame-level and visual or audio characteristics reviewed in the context of the specific file type.
Provenance
Source and transfer history
Source files, account records, and transfer history: where a file came from can matter as much as what appears on screen.
Comparison
Comparison to source material
Where available, comparison against the original file, prior versions, or corroborating records.
Deepfake and AI-generated media
Part of a broader authentication process, not a one-click detector.
Matters may involve suspected deepfakes, AI generated imagery, manipulated photographs, edited video, questioned recordings, social media content, recompressed files, transcoded files, or disputed screenshots.
Suspected deepfake or AI generated media can be reviewed for technical indicators, provenance, account records, file history, and contextual evidence. The review follows the same authentication process used for any questioned media, rather than relying on a single automated tool for a final answer.
Original vs. derivative media
A derivative copy is not automatically unusable.
Screenshots, social media downloads, messaging-app copies, screen recordings, and exported video can still support a review. The difference is in what technical detail each form is likely to retain.
Derivative copy
Screenshot, download, or re-encoded export
May carry the visible content while losing metadata, encoding characteristics, and other technical detail in the process.
Original source
Native image, video, or audio file
May preserve metadata, file structure, encoding characteristics, and other technical detail that a derivative copy does not.
Limits
What a review can and cannot resolve depends on what is available.
Media authentication is bounded by the same kind of limits as any forensic examination. Stating them clearly is part of a reliable opinion, not a qualification to work around.
- Metadata can be removed or altered, intentionally or through normal platform behavior
- Recompression and re-encoding can destroy or obscure technical characteristics
- The absence of an indicator does not by itself prove a file is authentic
- AI-generation and manipulation techniques continue to change
- Conclusions depend on the media and source material actually available for review
Media authentication consultation
Need an image, video, or audio file examined?
Rune Forensics can provide technical examination and documentation of source files, comparison of files or versions, findings regarding authenticity and manipulation indicators, written reporting, consultation, and testimony support where appropriate.
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