Farid has studied doctored and AI-generated images for more than two decades, and his forensic methods underpin GetReal Security, which helps enterprises catch deepfake impersonation.
Hany Farid is co-founder of GetReal Security, a San Mateo, California, company that detects deepfake voices, video and images used to impersonate job candidates, employees and executives.
Training in Computer Science and Vision
He earned an undergraduate degree in computer science and applied mathematics at the University of Rochester in 1989, a master's in computer science at the State University of New York at Albany, and a Ph.D. in computer science at the University of Pennsylvania in 1997, according to Dartmouth. He then spent two years as a postdoctoral fellow in brain and cognitive sciences at MIT.
Building a Field at Dartmouth
He joined the Dartmouth College faculty in 1999 and stayed for 20 years. His research there helped define digital forensics: methods that check the physics, lighting and pixel patterns of an image to tell whether it has been altered.
Moving to Berkeley and Back
He spent seven years on the faculty at UC Berkeley, with appointments in electrical engineering and computer sciences and the School of Information, before returning to Dartmouth in 2026. His recent work studies how well people can spot AI-generated faces and cloned voices, and he gave a 2025 TED talk on how to spot fake AI photos.
Co-founding GetReal Security
He co-founded GetReal with Ted Schlein, the former Kleiner Perkins leader who now chairs the company, and Ballistic Ventures incubated it from 2022 until it came out of stealth in June 2024, according to TechCrunch. Matt Moynahan, a longtime security executive, serves as CEO.
