Threat players are becoming more sophisticated in launching disinformation campaigns, & staying below the radar in order to evade detection from Facebook, Twitter & other platforms.
In the 4 years since the last US Presidential Election, threat players have developed new techniques for causing trouble, & sowing doubt in the minds of the American electorate. On Wed., researchers with Cisco Talos released a report [PDF] that explains how some of these new sophisticated campaigns actually work.
Influence Campaigns
There are now different groups associated with ‘influence campaigns’, observed Nick Biasini with Cisco Talos. Instead of directly launching their own campaigns, many state-sponsored threat groups are working with independent, 3rd-party entities – legitimate, private digital marketing companies to produce global influence operations, he commented.
“Unfortunately, what we’re starting to see is there are companies that are popping up that are offering this as a service, & we’re already starting to see it spread & become more widely used than it was in the past,” cautioned Biasini.
Dangerous
The concept of state sponsored players working with these 3rd-party companies is dangerous because it allows them to avoid detection, explained Biasini.
“In most of these campaigns the true players behind the disinformation don’t want to be exposed. If they can use a company to do it, it allows them to abstract themselves further,” he suggested.
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