Digital Disinformation and Domestic Disturbance: Hostile Cyber-Enabled information

Operations to Exploit Domestic issues on twitter

Source @CSS-With-Waqas

Muhammad Rehan Rasheed and Mozzam Naseer

(IPRI Journal)

Introduction

 Media platforms are essential tools for transmitting and receiving information.
 The digitalization of information has had a significant impact on traditional media.
 Mass correspondence has changed to the point that anyone can communicate with the
world without any hindrance.
 Computing technologies make it easier for information to be shared through tools such
as Social Media.
 Technology is not enough to bring change but how people adopt it can have significant
impact.

The advancement in technology also opens up possibilities of cybercrime such as

 Malicious access to electronically stored information

 Privacy Abuse
 Fake News
 Propaganda

 The digital age has opened up new perspectives in the art of Warfare.
 The operational environment and conduct of war are greatly affected by the emerging
technologies.

Nowadays, cyber operations:

 Target individual within a society,

 Influence their beliefs, and
 Diminish trust in the democratically-elected government.
  Nation states use their energies to learn the art of political and psychological warfare
methods.
 Technological revolution has changes the ways wars can be fought and waged.
 One of the landmarks is Social Media which created a network-centered approach a
center of gravity to defense and attack.
 These can gave propaganda a boom and opened new doors to influence the minds of
the adversaries and allies.

State and non-state actors can get access information and use it:

 To harm national interests

 Discredit public institutions
 Sow domestic strife
 Control social media trends
 “Trend list” is sorted out on the basis popular topics but “Commanding the trend” is a
new and dangerous way to persuade through social media.

Information Environment, Information Warfare and Information Operations

 Information Warfare supports often quote from Sun Tzu’s famous maxis: “Know your
enemy and know yourself. Then in a hundred fights you will never be at risk”.
 The main objective of information warfare is to manipulate information without the
target’s knowledge so that they make decision against their own interest.
 Technological warfare, have been a catalyst for the development of information warfare,
which has profoundly altered the information environment.
 Information Environment is the place where human and automated systems interact to
view, orient, decide and act on information.

It is a collection of many:

 Social,
 Cultural,
 Cognitive, and
 Physical attributes.

 It has impact on knowledge, understanding, beliefs, Views and ultimately the actions of
individuals, groups, communities and organizations.
 Information is the basis of understanding between the parties in a conflict.
 The information environment is the medium through which information flows how the
players use it to affect each other’s decision-making.
  Information Operations is defined as the deliberate use of information against an
adversary to influence his decision and choices which is a non-kinetic hostile activity
between two belligerents whose interests do not align.

According to a US Congressional Research Service report,

“Information warfare is a strategy that uses information to

gain a competitive advantage against adversaries. This
includes both offensive and defensive operations”.

Cyber Operations and Cyber-Enabled Information Operations

 Cyber Operations misuse and misguide information through social media.

 Cyber Warfare is related to the use of information in digitalized and operationalized ways.
 The technical flaws in information lead adversaries to prosecute cyberwar.
 Many American believed that the Russian interference during 2016 US election was an act
of cyber war.
 Cyber-attacks and cyber exploitation are cyber operations while propaganda,
disinformation, and leaks of information are information operation.

Social Media: A Psycho-Political Weapon

 Social media has opened up new avenues for the states to pursue their goals in foreign
countries.
 Goals in the modern world are not total defeat but defeat high politics; psychological
tactics are used to coerce enemies and force them to act according to your will.
 States have turned to economics, technological and information wars.
 In the book “Like War: The Weaponization of Social Media”, Emerson Brooking and
Peter W. Singer argue that “Social Media networking is transforming a modern world
and history”.
 Pakistan is vulnerable to cyber-attacks due to the existing interval faults which lie in
socio-political, economic and military settings.

Rise of Cyber-Enabled Information Operations

 There is an exponential rise in cyber-enables information operations after an increase in

social media platforms.
 According to a Project based at University of Washington on Islam and Information
Technology, “Social media played a vital role in shaping political debates during the
Arab Spring”.
 Moreover, Russia successfully ensured a new age of geo-political competitiveness via
their influence operations.
  Cyber space is often use in conflicts to eliminate communication system of an enemy as
Russian-Ukraine issues mainly targeted on the mind of people.
 According to Martin and Jacub’s Empirical Study, “Russia had launched more than 20
companies in 13 countries in 2016 and could have an influence on Brexit campaign”.

India Spreading

 India has used disinformation as a tool for spreading propaganda against Pakistan and
propagates anti-Pakistan content via social media and unusual press agencies.
 Srivastva group has used hashtags of human rights council to spread disinformation
against Pakistan.

How Pakistan Get into Cyber-attacks through Twitter

 A political part of Pakistan, Tahreek Labiek Pakistan started twitter trend as they
demanded end of diplomatic relations with France as they hurt the sentiments of the
Muslims through Holocaust.
 The government of Pakistan detained the leader of respective party to maintain peace in
the state but hostile forces launched different campaigns to incite violence inside the
country.
 Indian social media influencers promoted hashtag of “Civil War in Pakistan” and posted
fake videos to spread disinformation against Pakistan.

Actions Taken for Cyber-attacks through Twitter to:

 Arrest any person who spread fake news.

 Block access to social media platforms temporarily.
 But, actions, for the removal of blocking the sites which spread fake news and propaganda
against Pakistan, are needed to be taken.

Conclusion

 Information is used to spread disinformation via cyber space can misled human.
 The respective authorities are supposed to take immediate actions against disinformation
because nowadays cyber-crimes as cyber-attacks and Hacking are common which can
easily disturb the peace of a state.