It's typically not every day that Americans hear about "influence operations," though recent history has been an exception to that rule as news outlets and government officials have aggressively hyped the alleged threat of Russian covert ops aimed at swaying the U.S. election, or at least at causing chaos leading up to it. Indeed, much … Continue reading Anti-ISIS influence ops drill reveals parts of U.S. deception strategy
Tag: disinformation
The Federal Bureau of Investigation can, in certain circumstances, impersonate journalists in the course of undercover work, according to a report released this month by the Justice Department's Office of the Inspector General. While somewhat controversial, the finding is not unexpected, coming at a time of increasing use of fake Internet personas by government authorities … Continue reading Impersonation of journalists added to FBI’s trolling tool kit
In the wake of last month's revelations of favoritism towards Hillary Clinton over Bernie Sanders within the Democratic National Committee, which led to the resignation of former DNC chair Debbie Wasserman Schultz, paranoia has been percolating. On August 12, the Washington Post featured two articles about conspiracy theories, one by Post "global opinions" columnist Josh … Continue reading DNC Leaks Lead to Dueling Conspiracy Theories
Back in March, the Pentagon announced a new public-private partnership to form a "Defense Innovation Advisory Board" chaired by Eric Schmidt, executive chairman of Alphabet, parent company of Google, with other board members to be selected jointly by Schmidt and Defense Secretary Ashton Carter. This week, a list of additional board members was released … Continue reading New military tech board includes billionaires, ex-covert ops boss, anti-conspiracy theorist
In an opinion piece in the Washington Post yesterday, columnist Josh Rogin revealed what he said was potentially a "bad deal" that the Obama administration is pitching to Russia about increased cooperation in Syria. But it's hard to know what to make of the news, which the Russians won't comment on, and which comes amidst … Continue reading Russia and the US in Syria: Deals, disinfo and deception
Three years after the Boston Marathon bombing, previously undisclosed documents continue to emerge that challenge official explanations of circumstances surrounding the terrorist attack, specifically relating to actions of the FBI. In the aftermath of the bombing, it was widely reported that Tamerlan Tsarnaev, the older of the two brothers sought in connection with the attack who … Continue reading New Documents Raise More Boston Bombing Questions
If you thought the battles over plausible deniability, public image, and rights and responsibilities related to hacking people's phones ended when the FBI paid hackers a million dollars to unlock the San Bernardino shooter's phone, think again. The ostensible PR and political war between the Federal Bureau of Investigation and Apple Inc. has been a … Continue reading More Attacks in War Over Hacks
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