-
Unmasking “Clandestine,” the Figure Behind the Viral “Ukrainian Biolab” Conspiracy Theory
“Clandestine,” the man behind the viral biolab conspiracy theory, has been identified as Jacob Creech, a self-described former restaurant manager and Army National Guard veteran living in rural Virginia. The discovery highlights how a fringe QAnon figure, harnessing the power of social media, sparked a viral conspiracy theory which, in just a few weeks, made its way from QAnon to the world stage, amplified by Tucker Carlson, extreme far-right activists, the Proud Boys, Steve Bannon – and even the Kremlin.
-
-
‘Ukraine Biolabs’: How Attempts to Debunk a Conspiracy Theory Only Helped It Spread
As Russian forces moved into Ukraine on 24 February, stories of U.S.-funded biolabs and bioweapon research in Ukraine began to spread on social media. The false claims spread from right-wing circles but became more wide-spread, and were soon picked up by Fox News host Tucker Carlson. It wasn’t long until the Russian government, which had spread tales of Ukrainian biolabs in the past, adopted the narrative as a belated justification for the invasion. But, ironically, the very effort to debunk the Russian propaganda promoted by Carlson and Russia only gave to story more oxygen.
-
-
Facebook Fails to Appropriately Label 80% of Bioweapon Conspiracy Articles n Its Platform
Facebook failed to label 80 percent of articles on its service which promote conspiracy theories about U.S. labs in Ukraine and Ukraine’s supposed intent to use CBW against Russia.
-
-
How Ukraine Has Defended Itself Against Cyberattacks – Lessons for the U.S.
In 2014, as Russia launched a proxy war in Eastern Ukraine and annexed Crimea, and in the years that followed, Russian hackers hammered Ukraine. The cyberattacks went so far as to knock out the power grid in parts of the country in 2015. Russian hackers stepped up their efforts against Ukraine in the run-up to the 2022 invasion, but with notably different results. Those differences hold lessons for U.S. national cyber defense.
-
-
Cyberattacks Have Yet to Play a Significant Role in Russia’s Battlefield Operations in Ukraine – Cyberwarfare Experts Explain the Likely Reasons
Since the latter half of 2021 analysts offered contrasting predictions about the role cyberspace would play in an armed conflict. These predictions capture an ongoing debate about whether conflict in cyberspace is destined to supplant conventional conflict or exacerbate it. As the war has evolved, it’s clear that analysts on both sides of the debate got it wrong.
-
-
Russia’s Cyber War: What’s Next and What the European Union Should Do.
The EU has made long-term changes which will improve it’s cybersecurity. However, the bloc needs to make a series of short-term changes to guard against potential Russian cyberattacks.
-
-
Identifying Methods to Predict Future Cyberattacks
“Malware” is a big threat for modern society. In 201, 2.8 billion consumer data records were breached, costing more than $654 billion to U.S. organizations, posing a massive industry threat. The numbers have only increased since then. Researchers are investigating ways to accurately predict these attacks.
-
-
Deepfakes and Fake News Pose a Growing Threat to Democracy: Experts
Experts say that both fake news and deepfakes have the negative effect of delegitimizing real news. They say fake news and deepfakes decrease the amount of true information available, reduce consumers’ trust in authentic media, and put an added burden on fact-checkers to authenticate the vast amount of content online.
-
-
Five Fact-Checking Tips from Disinformation Experts
Saturday, 2 April, was the International Fact Checking Day. The European Digital Media Observatory is an EU-wide platform to combat disinformation while protecting the core value of freedom of expression.
-
-
Cyber and Physical Security Should Collaborate: What Does It Take to Achieve This
To understand and mitigate threats that cross the boundary between what is cyber and what is physical, some organizations have integrated their security resources to encourage them to work more closely together.
-
-
Tiny, Cheap Solution for Quantum-Secure Encryption
A new kind of encryption could secure data in the age of quantum computers, ensuring medical records are destroyed after being read by a doctor, or to enforce time limits on software licenses. They can secure voting records or validate NFTs or just make sure no one is reading your email. Microchips with tiny clocks may hold key to future of computing security.
-
-
Protecting Picture Passwords Using Adjustable Distortion
Researchers developed a new system for graphical authentication online using key images with adjustable levels of distortion to thwart over-the-shoulder and screen-capture snooping, which may make online sites more secure.
-
-
Ukraine Offers Lessons for Russia’s 2024 Election Interference
For all the media attention on the domestic political dimensions, the Kremlin’s interference in the 2016 and 2020 presidential elections (and the 2018 midterms) included a significant focus on shaping U.S. policy toward Ukraine. Exerting influence on U.S. Ukraine policy Ukraine has long been a goal of Russian disinformation efforts, so American policymakers must prepare now for this influence effort to reemerge in 2024.
-
-
Warning: Objects in Driverless Car Sensors May Be Closer Than They Appear
Researchers have demonstrated the first attack strategy that can fool industry-standard autonomous vehicle sensors into believing nearby objects are closer (or further) than they appear without being detected.
-
-
The Digital Skills Gap: What Workers Need for the Jobs of the Future
The COVID-19 pandemic quickened the pace of digital development around the world, as everything from meetings to movie premiers went online. That may sound like a silver lining. For tens of millions of workers, it’s not. They don’t have the skills to compete.
-
More headlines
The long view
Truth Decay and National Security
The line between fact and opinion in public discourse has been eroding, and with it the public’s ability to have arguments and find common ground based in fact. Two core drivers of Truth Decay are political polarization and the spread of misinformation—and these are particularly intertwined in the national security arena. Exposure to misinformation leads to increased polarization, and increased polarization decreases the impact of factual information. Individuals, institutions, and the nation as a whole are vulnerable to this vicious cycle.