Category: Information Security

How technology strengthens digital dictators

     

As autocracies have learned to co-opt new technologies, they have become a more formidable threat to democracy. In particular, today’s dictatorships have grown more durable. Between 1946 and 2000—the year… Read more »

Building democratic resilience against weaponized disinformation

     

Social media and the Internet pose an acute threat to democracy, but probably not in the way that most people assume, says a leading expert. Many people believe that the… Read more »

‘Demand for Deceit’: What drives disinformation

     

Russian operatives and other foreign actors are deliberately targeting U.S. troops and veterans with online disinformation amplified on a massive scale, according to a leading veterans group,  The Washington Post… Read more »

Cybersecurity for civil society vs the ‘democratization of misinformation’

     

China and Russia are increasingly collaborating and engage in mutual learning when it comes to disinformation strategies, says analyst Jane Li. But the sentiment among China’s internet users is that… Read more »

How to stop the ‘greatest propaganda machine in history’ from warping democracy

     

How to distinguish fact from fiction in an age where misinformation is dangerously pandemic? The Washington Post’s Valerie Strauss asks, drawing on lessons from the nonprofit News Literacy Project and the educational… Read more »

Countering Truth Decay: Digital tech leaves democracy in ‘permanent flux’

     

Hillary Clinton says she’s “dumbfounded” that the U.K. government has failed to release a report on Russian influence in British politics before the country holds a national election next month…. Read more »

Online techniques & social media business model distorting democratic process

     

The business model of social media makes the algorithmic amplification of messages like hate speech and disinformation a lucrative proposition and a destabilizing force in a democratic society, the International… Read more »

‘Trojan horse for tyranny’: Disinformation boosting digital authoritarianism

     

Digital platforms have emerged as the “new battleground” for democracy, with disinformation the most commonly used tactic to undermine elections, according to a leading watchdog. “Populists and far-right leaders have… Read more »

Democracies ill-equipped to counter info warfare in ‘Age of Durable Disorder’

     

A coordinated cyberespionage campaign using phishing to harvest passwords from mobile phones and computers has targeted U.N. relief agencies, the International Red Cross and other non-governmental organizations groups for the… Read more »

‘Tsunami Democràtic’: Emerging risk of virtual societal warfare

     

Virtual societal warfare is a new category of cyberaggression that seeks to manipulate or disrupt the information essential for the effective functioning of economic and social systems, RAND researchers Michael… Read more »