Category: disinformation

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Information Flows and Democracy

Posted on By infossl
academic papers, disinformation, national security policy, Security technology, Uncategorized

Henry Farrell and I published a paper on fixing American democracy: “Rechanneling Beliefs: How Information Flows Hinder or Help Democracy.” It’s much easier for democratic stability to break down than most people realize, but this doesn’t mean we must despair over the future. It’s possible, though very difficult, to back away from our current situation … Read More “Information Flows and Democracy” »

Using Disinformation to Cause a Blackout

Posted on By infossl
academicpapers, disinformation, infrastructure, Security technology, socialmedia

Interesting paper: “How weaponizing disinformation can bring down a city’s power grid“: Abstract: Social media has made it possible to manipulate the masses via disinformation and fake news at an unprecedented scale. This is particularly alarming from a security perspective, as humans have proven to be one of the weakest links when protecting critical infrastructure … Read More “Using Disinformation to Cause a Blackout” »

Fake Stories in Real News Sites

Posted on By infossl
cybersecurity, disinformation, fakenews, hacking, propaganda, russia, Security technology

Fireeye is reporting that a hacking group called Ghostwriter broke into the content management systems of Eastern European news sites to plant fake stories. From a Wired story: The propagandists have created and disseminated disinformation since at least March 2017, with a focus on undermining NATO and the US troops in Poland and the Baltics; … Read More “Fake Stories in Real News Sites” »

Chinese COVID-19 Disinformation Campaign

Posted on By infossl
china, covid19, disinformation, fakenews, intelligence, propaganda, Security technology

The New York Times is reporting on state-sponsored disinformation campaigns coming out of China: Since that wave of panic, United States intelligence agencies have assessed that Chinese operatives helped push the messages across platforms, according to six American officials, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to publicly discuss intelligence matters. The amplification techniques are … Read More “Chinese COVID-19 Disinformation Campaign” »

Story of Gus Weiss

Posted on By infossl
deception, disinformation, historyofsecurity, russia, sabotage, Security technology, tradecraft

This is a long and fascinating article about Gus Weiss, who masterminded a long campaign to feed technical disinformation to the Soviet Union, which may or may not have caused a massive pipeline explosion somewhere in Siberia in the 1980s, if in fact there even was a massive pipeline explosion somewhere in Siberia in the … Read More “Story of Gus Weiss” »

Artificial Personas and Public Discourse

Posted on By infossl
algorithms, artificialintelligence, botnets, deepfake, disinformation, essays, propaganda, Security technology, socialengineering, socialmedia, voting

Presidential campaign season is officially, officially, upon us now, which means it’s time to confront the weird and insidious ways in which technology is warping politics. One of the biggest threats on the horizon: artificial personas are coming, and they’re poised to take over political debate. The risk arises from two separate threads coming together: … Read More “Artificial Personas and Public Discourse” »

Influence Operations Kill Chain

Posted on By infossl
disinformation, essays, fakenews, nationalsecuritypolicy, propaganda, Security technology

Influence operations are elusive to define. The Rand Corp.’s definition is as good as any: “the collection of tactical information about an adversary as well as the dissemination of propaganda in pursuit of a competitive advantage over an opponent.” Basically, we know it when we see it, from bots controlled by the Russian Internet Research … Read More “Influence Operations Kill Chain” »

Fake News and Pandemics

Posted on By infossl
biologicalwarfare, disinformation, essays, fakenews, lies, medicine, propaganda, Security technology, socialmedia, terrorism

When the next pandemic strikes, we’ll be fighting it on two fronts. The first is the one you immediately think about: understanding the disease, researching a cure and inoculating the population. The second is new, and one you might not have thought much about: fighting the deluge of rumors, misinformation and flat-out lies that will … Read More “Fake News and Pandemics” »

How Political Campaigns Use Personal Data

Posted on By infossl
datacollection, datamining, disinformation, Security technology, voting

Really interesting report from Tactical Tech. Data-driven technologies are an inevitable feature of modern political campaigning. Some argue that they are a welcome addition to politics as normal and a necessary and modern approach to democratic processes; others say that they are corrosive and diminish trust in already flawed political systems. The use of these … Read More “How Political Campaigns Use Personal Data” »