Russia’s Campaign Don’t fall to for it ! Influence U.S. Elections Office of the West Virginia Secretary of State Time Magazine, Vol. 188 No. 14 (October 10, 2016) Rev. 5/2019 Who Is Behind It? What is the Goal? To Putin, the End Justifies the Means • Divide, Discredit, and Distract the West In 2016, Russia spent millions ($) distributing misleading & false info on social media to: • Have us not trust our own government • Degrade NATO cohesiveness • Disrupt U.S. democratic election processes • Turn us on ourselves • Cause U.S. citizens to doubt election systems & results • Themes from Russian Attacks Overseas: • Turn U.S. citizens against government • Western policy failures, setbacks, incompetence • Russia’s successes • Create distrust, sow discord & generate chaos • Unpredictability of the U.S. • Pit people against one another 1
How are they doing it? Why Are They Doing It? Information Operations Propaganda is as Old as War itself Can’t compete with U.S. economically • The scale is new, given the internet Can’t stand toe to toe with U.S. • Russia has weaponized the internet • Russia seeks “Information Dominance” vs US openness, security militarily Only hope to stay competitive is to Intensified by Artificial I ntelligence (AI) bring U.S. down from the inside • Bad actors now run mass influence campaigns like never before • AI--efficient targeting of people most vulnerable to manipulation Transformative Commodities The “Great Game” Cyber Style Throughout History Today’s Clash of Civilizations Takes Place on Social Media Khrushchev “You Americans are so gullible. You won't accept Communism outright; but we'll feed you small doses of Socialism until you finally wake up & find • Stone Age: Stones you already have Communism. We shall conquer you without firing a shot!” • Agricultural Revolution: Land • China’s “Art of War” – win without fighting • Bronze Age: Copper • Russia’s great chess tradition – win by out-smarting opponent • Industrial Revolution: Oil/Iron/Steel • Information Age: Data • America’s “Spirit of ‘76” -- win on ideas , human freedom, liberal democracy • North Korea, Iran/Terrorist Organizations also quite active • Groundwork laid for foreign & domestic attacks 2
The New “Great Game” IoT, Blockchain, AI “ Data is the New Oil” “ …The Rising Philosophy of the Day, I’d Say it is Dataism.” David Brooks, NY Times Clive Humby • Internet of Things ( IoT ) – quantum leap in available data • World powers now struggle for data superiority • Blockchain - Unchangeable, permanent data storage (5G, AI, machine learning, quantum computing) • AI - Unfathomable capacity to retrieve/process data • Data has economic, political, & military importance • Enhances “Dataism” • Big Data • All data/information becomes strategic • “Universe consists of data flows” • Value is determined by contribution to data processing How Does This Apply to Us? AI, Algorithms, Bots “ AI is the New Electricity” Andrew Ng • AI turns data into actionable intelligence Russia doesn’t have to break • AI allows micro-targeting to influence decision-making into data systems; they achieve goals on softer • Algorithms – set rules to get directed jobs done targets using AI, algorithms, • Bots – “Web Robots” run tasks on internet, social media bots, & micro targeting • Data-driven social media is key to public opinion 3
The Power of Social Media Using Our Strengths Against Us Using Social Media it Was Easy for Russia to: Freedom is the American Spirit In 2016, Russia’s cost for meddling in U.S. Elections was less-than ½ the expense of a single fighter jet. • Reach millions of voters with minimal costs US Strengths = Freedoms • Freedom of press • Exploit divisive & heated issues within the U.S. • Freedom of speech • Incite opposition, division & protests • Freedom of religion • Freedom of assembly • Focus was on whoever was in front, to sow discord • Publically diminish front-runners , generating mistrust Russia has leveraged all of these via social media! 2016: Russia Scanned All 50 States Russian Social Media Efforts in 2016 Over 20 had “Extra Penetrating Measur es” Statistics of known false/misleading activity Foreign Twitter: 10 Million Tweets Interference is everywhere Instagram: 116,000 posts That’s almost 28,000 social media Facebook: 61,000 posts actions per day! Additional Videos: 1,000+ 4
Why You? Russia’s Target: the American Spirit 5 Real-World Examples • You are 1 of over 4 billion internet users. 5 • Your demographic is most likely to share posts 1 • Social media presence is highest among ages 18-24 • High school seniors are newest generation of voters • First-time voters in 2020 Election – be educated & prepared! 3 2 4 Competing Rallies 2 Disinformation 1 Creation & Promotion of Competing Protests Altered Candidate’s Photo to Manipulate Public Anti-Trump Rally Pro-Trump Rally Pro-Stacey Abrams Anti-Stacey Abrams Nov. 12, 2016 4 days after the election. 5
Discouraging Voters Inciting Tensions 4 3 Targeting Race Advertised Competing Protests at Same Location & Date Pro-Islam Anti-Islam Black Liberation Flag All out assault on African American voters using social media! Oppression Other Major Foreign Cyber Adversaries of U.S. 5 Social Media Ads that Divide American Society Pro-Law Enforcement Anti-Law Enforcement 6
Misinformation Misinformation Is Everywhere: AI Failure vs Disinformation • Misinformation : false/inaccurate info, regardless of intent • Disinformation : deliberately misleading , incorrect, or biased info; manipulated narratives, facts, propaganda, spread with intent to deceive or mislead • Examples : deep fakes, altered or augmented videos, partial truths Anyone Can Spread “Half-Truths” Misinformation Covington High School Students Exploited by News & Social Media 1 st reports made student There are appear as aggressor; yet, always full video two sides shows, in fact, to a story the man with drum purposely confronted the students Ian Bremmer: American Political Scientist, founder of Eurasia Group consulting firm in NY, DC, London 7
Disinformation Scope of the Operation Russia’s new “Operation Infektion” Infiltrated Targeted • Disinformation is like a virus far more internet than just platforms • Russia plants fake news reports in 4 corners of world Facebook across the & Twitter world, • They plant secondary reports that cite first fake report posting in at least 6 • Then, they watch it spread languages • Once circulated, hard to trace origin / “ ground zero ” • Soon, fake stories get into Western news outlets Edited/Augmented/Altered Videos Impersonation of Political Figures Deep Fakes – now extremely hard to spot • Super-imposing other peoples’ faces onto real videos • Prime example of • Anybody can be impersonated on social media disinformation trying to • Completely falsified videos, can be made to say anything divide U.S & U.K. Altered Videos • Bad actors want us to turn • Unlike deep fakes, subject matter is not changed on ourselves • Real video is slowed down, sped up, etc. to alter perception • High profile figures Both are incredibly impersonated easily dangerous 8
The Power of Fake News Altered Videos Everybody Sees it, Not Everybody Knows it Facebook: “We • PEW: 23% of adults had shared a made-up news story don’t have a policy that stipulates the • Youth particularly targeted as vulnerable to misinformation information you post on Facebook • Bots & AI micro-targeting intensify effectiveness must be true.” What Can You Do? Protect Detect Correct 9
Second: Detect First: Protect • Identify phishing attempts & website impersonation • Be proactive • Read all unauthorized access notices or alerts (email, texts, etc.) • Question validity of social media posts • Don’t ignore suspicious activity • Verify information using reputable sources to fact-check • Ransomware – locks all data, pay $ to regain access • Protect yourself, your devices, and internet accounts: • Always use multi-factor authentication & complex passwords • Use a different password for every account • Think before you link, click or share anything questionable Detect: Some Fact-Checking Resources Detect: Suspicious Emails • Opensecrets.org – shows who receives $ from Russia • Realorfake.org – exposes fake news sites • Politifact.com – fact checks US politics • Factcheck.org – holds politicians accountable • Stopfake.org – fact-check by Ukrainian profs & students • Polygraph.info – fact check by Radio Free Europe, VOA • Sunlightfoundation.com – nonprofit newsroom • Propublica.org – nonprofit newsroom Spear Phishing, Whaling • Bellingcat.org – distributed, collaborative investigating Specific Targets/Credential Harvesting • WhatsApp – new tip line for misinformation (India) *Source: actual emails received by West Virginia officials 10
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