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Facebook Posts Linking to Problematic Sites at Alarming Rates
Over a hundred million American adults read news on social media. In the wake of the crisis in Ukraine, antisemitism, hate speech, and disinformation have spread widely on Facebook. Researchers found evidence of the continued presence of problematic posts on the platform, the most popular site for getting news, as well as the prevalence of external links directing users to alternative platforms and sites popular among extremists.
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True or False: Work Practices of Professional Fact-Checkers
Online misinformation is a critical societal threat . While fact-checking plays a role in combating the exponential rise of misinformation, little empirical research has been done on the work practices of professional fact-checkers and fact-checking organizations.
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Researchers Team Up to Launch $1.5 Million Virtual Cybersecurity Institute
An interdisciplinary group of researchers is teaming up to co-lead a new $1.5 million virtual institute that will help train the next generation of cybersecurity professionals for future military and civilian leadership positions.
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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.
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‘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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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The long view
Encryption Breakthrough Lays Groundwork for Privacy-Preserving AI Models
In an era where data privacy concerns loom large, a new approach in artificial intelligence (AI) could reshape how sensitive information is processed. New AI framework enables secure neural network computation without sacrificing accuracy.
Need for National Information Clearinghouse for Cybercrime Data, Categorization of Cybercrimes: Report
There is an acute need for the U.S. to address its lack of overall governance and coordination of cybercrime statistics. A new report recommends that relevant federal agencies create or designate a national information clearinghouse to draw information from multiple sources of cybercrime data and establish connections to assist in criminal investigations.