New Disinformation Campaigns, Old Players: The Miami Chronicle And Other Fake News Sites Popping Up Since 2023

The New York Times reported on the emergence of several fake news sites with Russian ties, such as D.C. Weekly and the Miami Chronicle, aimed at disseminating Kremlin propaganda within the U.S. These platforms intermix genuine content with false narratives to influence public discourse, especially ahead of significant political events like the American presidential election. The operation, believed to be linked to the late Yevgeny Prigozhin’s media empire, utilizes advanced digital tools for targeted disinformation, highlighting a technological evolution in Russia’s strategy to manipulate American public opinion.

Someone reached out to me and asked if I wanted to take a look and see what the sites were (reporting was scarce) and then expand the net to look for other sites by the same actors. I managed to do exactly that and long story short, the assessment I have carried out has a medium to high certainty that it is in fact an offshoot of the original IRA (Prigozhin’s) machine, but owned by another player; Alexander Sergeevich Frolov, someone cited in the Panama Papers and a player within the oligarchy arcology of Putin. Additionally, the minion that is running the show day to day, has been assessed as Mikhail Leonidovich Burchik, a known quantity who has been sanctioned by the US and is wanted in connection with the IRA machinations from 2016 on.

Assessment: The Miami Chronicle and Other Sites

Sites:

After reading a bit on the Times piece, I was able to locate the “Miami Chronicle” an alleged paper in operation since 1937, according to their cutline on the masthead. The page is simplistic and has some interesting features;

1. The sites are rather generic with low end graphics and a lot of stock photo use.
2. The logo’s have been generated by LLM’s like ChatGPT
3. The font use is much the same on all the sites
4. They all have been generated by a WordPress generator for “news sites”
5. None of the sites articles have authors listed and there are no author bios whatsoever on the sites

So, these are low end sites and they don’t seem to have much in the way of SEO or social media synergy as yet. I looked for connections to any accounts on Twitter and other social media sites and nothing turned up. I did find one mention of the Miami Chronicle on X, but nothing of real merit. So, I then went back to the board so to speak, and started looking at a more technical level for any connections with the domains.

Spoiler… There are none.

The domains are all over the place and deliberately so, kinda like that quote by Hannibal Lecter in “Silence of the Lambs”

“Clarice, doesn’t this scattering of sites seem overdone to you?

Doesn’t it seem desperately random? – Like the elaborations of a bad liar?

Ta… Hannibal Lecter”

While they seemed to have been very careful with the tradecraft to not have the domains linked by actual hyperlinks or domains on the same services (and with all the privacy registrations now, it’s all kinda pointless to try to gather intel unless you have a warrant) there was a tradecraft failure that led me to the assessment of who is behind these sites.

Tradecraft Failure:

The tradecraft failure I am speaking of, was in the use of the WordPress generation on their coterie of sites. While it is fairly cookie cutter, they decided to mess with the contact pages email addresses that reside on all of the sites by adding the email address of contact@thezeenworldnewsdemo.com which is bogus. However, when using Google-Fu, I was able to see the collection of sites that were using that same odd email address. Within that group of sites that came up from the search however, was one domain and website that had that same bogus email address attached when Google scraped it. That site is allnw.ru

Now, when I went to the site that is up today, I noted that they had changed the address to a real one for this site. It began to click for me that whoever had this site, was the same group who had been generating these other disinformation sites, so I then started to look at this news site a bit more closely. I managed to get to the page where they claimed ownership and it all came together.

The Company:

TECHNOLOGIES. BUSINESS. MEDIA (ТЕХНОЛОГИИ. БИЗНЕС. МЕДИА)

The “ТЕХНОЛОГИИ. БИЗНЕС. МЕДИА” company, located in Saint Petersburg, has a profile indicating it’s a relatively new entity with a focus on online publication activities. Its founder, Mikhail Leonidovich Burchik, is under sanctions and associated with sanctioned entities, including the Internet Research Agency, known for its role in online propaganda and influence operations. Although the company’s address does not directly match known IRA addresses, its geographical location and associations suggest a proximity to known IRA operations.

The name of the person in charge is a red herring as far as I can tell. Not much turned up on trying to drill down on that, however, the company that owns this site and the media conglomerate that is ostensibly is under, that was key.

Technologies LLC Business Media, is a company owned by a certain Alexander Sergeevich Frolov.

Frolov, is a known quantity within the Putin circle and is, as I stated at the top, mentioned in the Panama Paper’s for hiding funds, ostensibly from his oil dealings. On top of this though, the clincher for me was listed below, the CEO of the company, is none other than MIKHAIL LEONIDOVICH BURCHIK, the very same player from the original IRA in St. Petersburg, he is not only CEO but full “owner” with 150K rubles in it according to the Russian registration site.

The company has a few employees and an address in St. Petersburg, Russia, not far from the original IRA building. Burchik became the founder in October 2023 and Frolov took over the general director roll in January 2024. So, as you can see, they have recently spun up this concern and I assume since it’s already being caught on to, they may re-think their strategy a bit.

• Ownership and Management: Mikhail Leonidovich Burchik became the new founder on October 23, 2023. Alexander Sergeevich Frolov has been the general director since January 19, 2024.
• Financial Information for 2022: The company had a revenue of 32.1 million rubles, with a profit of 1.4 million rubles. The total assets were 9 million rubles, and the net assets amounted to 3.5 million rubles.

I also assume that there are other sites and plans out there that have not been detected yet that the new IRA has begun to plan or spin up, but, I have yet to see anything else that I could grab on to to go down those rabbit holes.

I do have to wonder at the half assed attempt though looking at these sites. Was this just being spun up? Details on domains and looking at the sites being put online live in the Wayback Machine, seem to indicate that this campaign was new and nascent. Everything seems to have come online since the new year (February 26th for the Miami Chronicle site) but the effort put into these sites was so weak, it makes me think that they either thought this was only a start, or, that they really could just coast and hopefully get SEO and links to the sites in social media to get the traction they needed.

One site in particular, which was not ready for prime time, was sacralised.com, which is aimed directly at the 2024 election and was likely to be spun up when the race formally begins in the near future after the recent caucusing and such.

All in all, that this was caught on to so quickly might just be the key to how little effort they put into this one…

It’s gonna be wild…

~K

For a more formal report on this you can download the following assessment below.

Technical Analysis Report:

title_-analysis-of-recent-disinformation-campaigns-linked-to-russian-entitiesDownload

Analysis: Disinformation and misinformation campaigns from November 2023 to the present

This analysis was created by Scot Terban with the DisinfoTracker A.I. Agent Analyst on ChatGPT4 that he has trained for this purpose.

In our analysis of disinformation and misinformation campaigns from November 2023 to the present, we observe a complex and evolving landscape. This period has been marked by an array of strategically crafted campaigns, leveraging advanced technology and social media platforms to shape public opinion and political narratives. These campaigns, ranging from state-sponsored propaganda to grassroots-level misinformation, have targeted various global events and figures, reflecting the increasing sophistication and reach of such tactics in the digital era. Our analysis aims to dissect the methods, impacts, and actors involved in these campaigns, offering insights into their nature and the broader implications for information integrity in today’s interconnected world.

Campaigns & Actors:

Indian DisinfoLab:

This entity has emerged in the Indian digital arena, actively supporting the Modi government. Reports suggest it is run by an Indian intelligence officer and mimics credible organizations like EU DisinfoLab or DFRLab to gain credibility in Western media. The main goal appears to be propaganda supporting the Indian government.

Goals:

Discredit Opposing Nations: The primary aim was to discredit countries in conflict with India, especially Pakistan and to a lesser extent, China. This involved undermining these nations’ reputations internationally.

Influence International Decision-Making: The operation sought to influence decision-making at important international bodies like the UN Human Rights Council and the European Parliament.

Strengthen Pro-Indian Sentiments: Domestically in India, the campaign aimed to reinforce pro-Indian and anti-Pakistan/China feelings.

Consolidate India’s Global Position: Internationally, the goal was to enhance India’s power and improve its perception globally, thereby gaining more support from international institutions.

Methods:

Use of Fake Entities and Identity Theft: The operation resurrected dead NGOs and media, and even impersonated dead individuals. It involved identity thefts of notable figures and the creation of over 750 fake media outlets across 119 countries.

Manipulation of International Forums: The campaign employed coordinated UN-accredited NGOs to promote Indian interests, often at the expense of Pakistan. These NGOs coordinated with non-accredited think-tanks and minority-rights NGOs in Brussels and Geneva for lobbying, organizing demonstrations, and speaking at UN events.

Misrepresentation in European Institutions: Trips for Members of the European Parliament to regions like Kashmir were organized to create a facade of official EU support for these agendas. Informal groups within the European Parliament were also created to disseminate pro-India and anti-Pakistan narratives.

Media Complicity and Amplification: Asian News International (ANI), a major Indian news agency, played a critical role in repackaging and amplifying the content produced by these fake entities. This content was then further disseminated by a network of over 500 fake local media in 95 countries.

Online Disinformation Tactics: The operation maximized negative content about Pakistan online, using a network of fake local media worldwide. The campaign was ongoing as of the latest reports and had adapted to continue its activities despite initial exposures.

Impact and Concerns:

Wide Reach and Longevity: This 15-year-long operation has been notable for its extensive reach and duration, impacting perceptions in Brussels, Geneva, and across the world.

Influence on Policy and Public Opinion: The operation has influenced European and international policymaking, swayed public opinion, and created controversies in international relations.

Challenges in Detection and Regulation: The sophisticated use of digital tools and media manipulation presents significant challenges for detecting and regulating such disinformation campaigns. The adaptation and evolution of these tactics, even after initial exposure, underline the difficulty in combating such operations.

Dublin Riots:

Meta, TikTok, and Google have responded to misinformation related to the Dublin riots, but there were criticisms towards X (formerly Twitter) for its lack of response and concerns over Elon Musk’s comments on Ireland.

In response to the Dublin riots, major social media platforms such as Meta (Facebook), TikTok, and Google have faced scrutiny and were questioned by the Oireachtas media committee regarding their role in disseminating information related to the riots. These companies, all headquartered in Dublin, were involved in discussions about disinformation, media literacy, and their response to the disorder in Dublin city. On the other hand, the platform X, formerly known as Twitter, was criticized for its absence from these discussions and its alleged slow response to removing contentious content related to the riots​​​​​​​​​​​​​​.

Elon Musk, the CEO of Tesla and owner of X (formerly Twitter), also became a subject of controversy due to his comments on the situation in Ireland. Musk criticized Irish Prime Minister Leo Varadkar, accusing him of hating the Irish people. This criticism followed Ireland’s announcement of its intent to modernize its laws against hate and hate speech. Musk’s comments were made in the context of the Dublin stabbings and subsequent riots and have been described as stoking up hatred in Ireland. An Oireachtas committee expressed strong disapproval of Musk’s remarks and his company’s failure to send a representative to discuss these issues​​​​​​​​​​.

The Dublin riots were a series of public order incidents that occurred over the June bank holiday weekend in 2021, during the COVID-19 pandemic. The violence involved clashes between the Garda Public Order Unit and people partying on the streets, with glass bottles and other objects thrown at members of the Garda Síochána (Irish police). The unrest was partly driven by misinformation and online rumors about a possible foreign attacker. It also reflected deeper societal issues, such as social inequality and the housing crisis in Ireland. Social media played a significant role in spreading information and misinformation about these events, leading to the involvement and scrutiny of major social media platforms and public figures like Elon Musk​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​.

Reinstatement of Alex Jones on X:

Elon Musk reinstated conspiracy theorist Alex Jones on X, despite previous bans. This decision may appeal to far-right supporters but is concerning for advertisers due to Jones’s endorsement of conspiracy theories.

In December 2023, Elon Musk, the owner of X (formerly Twitter), reinstated the account of Alex Jones, a notorious conspiracy theorist. Jones’ account, @RealAlexJones, had been banned since 2018 for abusive behavior​​. This decision followed a user poll conducted by Musk on X on December 9, 2023, in which a majority of participants voted in favor of reinstating Jones’ account​​​​.

Alex Jones was originally banned from the platform for spreading falsehoods about the Sandy Hook school shooting, an event that resulted in the death of 26 people​​. Musk’s decision to reinstate Jones comes amidst a period of continued loss of advertisers on the platform, which Musk acquired for $44 billion the previous year​​.

This move by Elon Musk to reinstate Alex Jones has several implications:

Appeal to Far-Right Supporters: By reinstating a figure like Alex Jones, who is well-known for promoting conspiracy theories and far-right rhetoric, Musk could potentially appeal to far-right supporters. Jones’ endorsement of such theories, including the notorious Sandy Hook conspiracy, has made him a divisive figure, particularly among far-right circles.

Concern for Advertisers: The reinstatement of Jones is concerning for advertisers. Given Jones’ controversial history and the nature of his conspiracy theories, advertisers might be wary of associating their brands with a platform that permits such content. This is particularly relevant considering the reported loss of advertisers on X since Musk’s takeover.

User Poll Influence: The decision to reinstate Jones was influenced by a user poll, suggesting a shift towards community-driven decision-making on the platform. However, this approach raises questions about the governance of content moderation and the potential for controversial or harmful figures to be reinstated based on popular vote, rather than a structured policy on content and behavior.

Implications for Platform Governance: This reinstatement signals a potential shift in the governance and content moderation policies under Musk’s ownership. It highlights the complexities and challenges involved in moderating content on social media platforms, balancing free speech with the need to curb misinformation and harmful content.

AI-Powered Harassment against Alexey Navalny:

A network of X/Twitter accounts used content generated by ChatGPT for a harassment campaign against Alexey Navalny and his Anti-Corruption Foundation, aiming to undermine support among pro-Ukraine Western audiences.

In a recent disinformation campaign, a network of at least 64 accounts on X (formerly Twitter) utilized content generated by OpenAI’s ChatGPT to engage in targeted harassment against Alexey Navalny, his associate Maria Pevchikh, and the Anti-Corruption Foundation (ACF). The primary aim of this campaign was to undermine support for Navalny and the ACF among pro-Ukraine American and Western audiences​​.

The ChatGPT-generated content, while initially appearing authentic, was part of a campaign that was not technically sophisticated, making it detectable. The Institute for Strategic Dialogue (ISD) identified these accounts based on coordinated posting patterns and shared vocabulary, topics, and hashtags. The campaign’s narrative was pro-Ukraine and anti-Russia, and it sought to portray Navalny and his associates as controlled opposition run by Russian security and intelligence services. A small number of tweets even posed as supporters of Navalny and Pevchikh, complicating the narrative. These accounts primarily posed as Americans from various states and engaged in activities such as spamming the replies of targeted individuals and posting on their own timelines​​.

The campaign involved two generations of accounts. The first generation, created around 2010 or 2011, began activity in mid-2023 with likely manually written content or basic automatic generation. The second generation of accounts, active from September 26, 2023, was newly created and likely bulk-purchased. These newer accounts utilized ChatGPT-generated content for all posts. Some accounts were removed by X around November 6, 2023, but were quickly replaced with fresh accounts​​.

The campaign exhibited high coordination, with consistent posting patterns primarily during weekdays, aligned with business hours in Moscow and St. Petersburg. This scheduling pattern might suggest the geographic origin of the operators or the targeted audience​​. Despite the absence of conclusive evidence linking the campaign to any specific actor, it’s worth noting that such tactics align with previous strategies employed by state actors, including those affiliated with the Kremlin, to covertly promote their interests by impersonating American social media users​​.

The overarching narrative accused Navalny and his associates of being enemies of Ukraine and implied cooperation with the Russian government. This line of questioning was particularly focused on how Navalny’s account continued to tweet while he was imprisoned​​. Some tweets ambiguously supported Navalny and the ACF, but these were often interspersed with contradictory statements from the same accounts, suggesting a strategy to sow confusion and discord​​.

This campaign signifies a shift in strategy, now aiming to divide the ACF from American and Western Anglophone audiences more broadly​​. Despite some quirks in the content, it was largely authentic-looking, proficient at spreading messages through inference and implication. This subtlety in approach and language indicates the potential ease with which generative AI can be used in cross-cultural and cross-linguistic influence campaigns, raising concerns about future sophistication in such tactics​​.

This case underscores the evolving challenge of identifying AI-generated content in influence campaigns. The reliance on social media platforms for detection and moderation of such content is likely to increase, as will the necessity for transparency in these processes. The broader implications for public discourse and the online information ecosystem are profound, particularly as disinformation policies evolve ahead of future political events. The use of generative AI in large-scale disinformation campaigns could deepen polarization and increase distrust and hostility on social media​​.

Fake Celebrity Cameo:

The Russian government used repurposed celebrity videos from platforms like Cameo to create false narratives against Ukraine’s president, Volodymyr Zelensky. Additionally, a campaign involving Facebook and X posts featured photos of celebrities with Kremlin propaganda messages.

Repurposed Celebrity Videos on Cameo:

• The Microsoft Threat Analysis Center reported that Russian propaganda officials tricked several American celebrities into recording personalized videos on Cameo. These videos were later edited to falsely present President Zelensky as a drug addict.
• Celebrities such as Elijah Wood, Priscilla Presley, Dean Norris, Kate Flannery, John McGinley, and Shavo Odadjian were targeted. They were paid to send a message to someone named “Vladimir,” asking him to seek help for substance abuse. The videos were then altered with links, emojis, and logos to appear authentic and were shared on social media.
• Russian state-owned news agencies, including RIA Novosti, Sputnik, and Russia-24, covered these videos. Representatives for the actors involved stated that the celebrities believed they were communicating with a fan and did not intend to spread disinformation about Zelensky​​.

Manipulated Images with Fabricated Quotes:

• In a separate operation dubbed “Doppelganger,” images of celebrities such as Taylor Swift, Beyoncé, Kim Kardashian, Justin Bieber, and Oprah Winfrey were used to spread anti-Ukrainian propaganda.
• These images featured fabricated quotes from the celebrities, critical of Ukraine and supportive of Russia’s actions. For example, a quote attributed to Taylor Swift criticized Ukrainians, while another attributed to Oprah Winfrey denounced support for Ukraine.
• This tactic is particularly effective as it can reach a wider audience and appear more credible than traditional propaganda methods, exploiting the trust and influence of these celebrities to manipulate public opinion​​.

Role of Social Media Platforms:

• Colonel Cedric Leighton emphasized the responsibility of social media platforms like Meta’s Facebook, Alphabet’s Google, and X (formerly Twitter) to police fake accounts used in operations like Doppelganger.
• He suggested that if these platforms do not effectively curb such disinformation campaigns, national and international legal systems should hold them accountable. The spread of this type of disinformation has implications not only for reputational damage but also for national security​​.

How would AI detect, deter, and counter disinformation campaigns for humanity and how would AI counter the use of another AI in carrying out these campaigns?

This post was generated with ChatGPT at my prompt.

AI can be used to detect, deter, and counter disinformation campaigns in several ways.

First, AI can be used to analyze large amounts of data and identify patterns that indicate the presence of disinformation. Machine learning algorithms can be trained on large datasets of both genuine and false information to recognize characteristics of disinformation campaigns, such as the use of certain keywords, sources, or propagandistic techniques. AI can also analyze social media and other online platforms to identify bots and fake accounts that are used to amplify disinformation.

Second, AI can be used to monitor the spread of disinformation in real-time and alert human moderators to take action when necessary. This can involve the use of natural language processing algorithms to analyze the sentiment and credibility of online content, as well as the tracking of viral trends and patterns of user behavior.

Third, AI can be used to develop counter-narratives and fact-checking resources to provide accurate information to counter the disinformation. This can involve the creation of databases of verified information, as well as the development of chatbots and other interactive tools that can engage users in meaningful and informative conversations.

To counter the use of another AI in carrying out disinformation campaigns, AI can be used to develop more sophisticated and advanced algorithms that can detect and flag suspicious activity. This can involve the development of machine learning models that can identify patterns of behavior that are characteristic of malicious bots and other AI-driven disinformation campaigns. AI can also be used to develop better security protocols and authentication systems to prevent the unauthorized use of AI technology in disinformation campaigns. Additionally, human oversight and regulation of AI systems can help ensure that they are being used ethically and responsibly.

Make it better and expand on the tools, techniques, and procedures in carrying out this kind of warfare

To expand on the tools, techniques, and procedures for detecting, deterring, and countering disinformation campaigns using AI, there are several key areas to consider:

1. Data Collection and Analysis: AI can be used to collect and analyze large amounts of data from a variety of sources, such as social media, news articles, and government reports. This data can be used to identify patterns and trends in the dissemination of false information, as well as the sources and actors behind these campaigns. AI-powered tools such as sentiment analysis, network analysis, and text mining can be used to analyze data and identify patterns that indicate the presence of disinformation.
2. Natural Language Processing (NLP): NLP is a subfield of AI that focuses on the interaction between computers and human language. AI-powered NLP tools can be used to identify the sentiment, credibility, and relevance of online content, as well as to classify content into categories such as news, opinion, and propaganda. These tools can be used to detect and flag disinformation, as well as to develop counter-narratives and fact-checking resources.
3. Machine Learning (ML): ML is a technique used in AI to enable machines to learn from data and improve their performance over time. ML algorithms can be trained on large datasets of both genuine and false information to recognize characteristics of disinformation campaigns, such as the use of certain keywords, sources, or propagandistic techniques. These algorithms can then be used to detect and flag suspicious activity in real-time, as well as to develop predictive models that can anticipate and prevent future disinformation campaigns.
4. Chatbots and Interactive Tools: Chatbots and other interactive tools can be developed using AI to engage users in meaningful and informative conversations about disinformation. These tools can be used to provide accurate information and fact-checking resources to counter false narratives, as well as to identify and report suspicious activity to human moderators.
5. Human Oversight and Regulation: While AI can be a powerful tool for detecting and countering disinformation, it is important to have human oversight and regulation to ensure that AI systems are being used ethically and responsibly. This can involve the development of ethical guidelines and standards for the use of AI in disinformation campaigns, as well as the establishment of regulatory frameworks to govern the use of AI in warfare.

Overall, AI has the potential to be a powerful tool for detecting, deterring, and countering disinformation campaigns in warfare. By combining advanced analytics, machine learning, and natural language processing with chatbots and other interactive tools, it is possible to develop effective strategies for countering false narratives and promoting accurate information in the face of disinformation.

What potential outcomes on society would play out when AI is used to propagate misinformation and disinformation and what geopolitical scenarios would happen when this happens?

This post was generated by ChatGPT at my prompt.

The potential outcomes of using AI to spread misinformation and disinformation are multifaceted, with implications for society, international relations, and conflict. Misinformation and disinformation refer to the intentional or unintentional spread of false or misleading information, respectively. The use of AI to create, spread, and perpetuate false narratives can have significant consequences for individuals, organizations, and even governments.

One potential outcome of the use of AI to spread misinformation and disinformation is the erosion of trust in public institutions and information sources. If individuals cannot distinguish truth from falsehood, they may become cynical or disengaged from the political process, leading to a potential democratic crisis. Furthermore, the spread of false narratives can also create political polarization, as individuals are exposed to different realities, reinforcing pre-existing beliefs and biases.

At the international level, the use of AI to spread false narratives can have serious consequences. State actors may use AI to create deepfakes, which are sophisticated manipulations of videos or images, showing individuals doing or saying things they never did. These deepfakes can be used to manipulate public opinion or to create confusion in the midst of a crisis or conflict. In the worst-case scenario, deepfakes can trigger conflicts, as false information can create tension and even provoke an armed conflict.

The use of AI to propagate misinformation and disinformation is also a potential tool for cyberattacks, which can have far-reaching consequences. For example, a state actor can use AI to manipulate data or to launch a cyberattack on the infrastructure of another country. This can lead to a loss of critical infrastructure, such as the electricity grid, water supply systems, or transportation networks, leading to social unrest or even violence.

However, AI can also be used to detect and counter misinformation and disinformation. AI-based systems can analyze patterns of online behavior, identify false or misleading content, and monitor social media and other sources for potential threats. Furthermore, AI can be used to develop more sophisticated methods of verifying the accuracy of online information, enhancing the ability of individuals to make informed decisions and reducing the impact of disinformation and misinformation.

To address the threat of AI-propagated misinformation and disinformation, policymakers and civil society must work together to establish norms, regulations, and best practices that prevent the malicious use of AI. At the same time, education and media literacy programs are critical to developing a more informed and resilient public, capable of distinguishing truth from falsehood.

In conclusion, the use of AI to spread misinformation and disinformation poses a significant threat to society and international relations. However, by developing more sophisticated AI-based systems to counter these threats and educating the public on media literacy and critical thinking, we can mitigate the risks and promote a more informed and resilient society.

How specifically, can AI be used by Russia in disinformation campaigns and how could we detect these attacks and counter them?

Russia has been known to use AI in disinformation campaigns to manipulate public opinion and sow discord in foreign countries. By using AI-based systems, they can create sophisticated deepfakes that are difficult to detect and manipulate videos and images to spread false narratives. Additionally, they can use AI to create fake news articles, social media posts, and websites that appear to be legitimate.

The effects of these disinformation campaigns can be far-reaching and can lead to the erosion of trust in institutions, a rise in extremism, and increased polarization. These campaigns can also exacerbate existing social and political tensions and contribute to the destabilization of regions.

To detect and counter these attacks, it is essential to have robust systems that can identify false or misleading content and monitor social media and other sources for potential threats. AI-based systems can analyze patterns of online behavior, identify bot and troll activity, and identify content that contradicts known facts.

Additionally, AI can be used to identify the origin of the disinformation campaign. By analyzing the patterns of content and behavior, it is possible to identify the individuals, groups or organizations responsible for spreading the false narratives. This can help to mitigate the effects of these campaigns and hold those responsible accountable.

Countermeasures can be taken to counter disinformation campaigns by building resilience in the public against false information. For instance, individuals can be trained to critically assess the information that they receive online, and media literacy programs can be developed to teach the public to identify false narratives and propaganda. Government agencies and civil society organizations can work together to develop best practices for identifying and countering disinformation campaigns and to develop regulations and norms to prevent malicious uses of AI.

However, detecting and countering disinformation campaigns can be challenging, as those spreading false narratives constantly adapt and evolve their tactics. It is essential to remain vigilant and to continue to develop new tools and methods to stay ahead of the attackers.

In conclusion, the use of AI in disinformation campaigns by Russia is a serious threat to democracy, and it is essential to take measures to detect and counter these attacks. AI-based systems can be used to detect patterns of behavior and content, which can be used to identify the source of the disinformation campaign. Additionally, media literacy programs and critical thinking can be developed to make individuals more resilient to disinformation and false narratives. Governments and civil society organizations must work together to prevent malicious uses of AI and protect democracy.

Enemies of The People: An Information Operation

Yesterday, I saw an article on the news wire that had Krebs lawyer mention a site (enemiesofthepeople) and decided to do a little looking. Going down the rabbit hole, I used Google Domains to do some searches to see what iterations of the site were already taken and found a list of sites that I began investigating. Once I located the main site, it became clear that the creators had also taken out a bunch of sites to post the same content and and were actively putting them online even as I was digging.

The sites are registered all over the place, including non domain named sites in Russia and Germany as well as a domain in Singapore and a presence in the darknet. Many of them are behind DoS protection with CloudFlare, and all are hosting the exact same content. The content is in fact the personal details of people that these actors are seeing as “enemies of the state” including Chris Krebs, Gretchen Witmer, and others in the government (state and federal) that they deem need to be assassinated.

The site also has a host of social media outlets including a now defunct Twitter account and a VK, as well as Gab and of course, Parler. In taking a more nuanced look at all of the domain data and links, I have come to the conclusion that this is probably an information operation, but the question is, by who? The domain data is littered with Russian addresses, names, and email addresses for Yandex, but, nothing in all of this data has shown to me a slip up, instead, this is all deliberate and methodical. A means to an end to make this look like, for all intents and purposes, this is Russia’s GRU putting this out on the net to cause a stir, and to enthuse the Trump/Alt-Right base to talk to each other directly about the “”next steps” post SCOTUS denial of the case to overturn the election in favor of Trump. This also tracks with the timing of the postings of these sites as we JUST heard last night that SCOTUS denied the case in a one sentence ruling in thirty four minutes.

Details of Domains:

pcp6uxkzhavhxnwb.onion
pcp6uxkzhavhxnwb.onion.ws —> Clearnet gateway to access onion
enemiesofthenation.com
enemiesofthepeople.mx
enemiesofthepeople.ca —-> Hosted on monovm VPS/Hosting

enemiesofthepeople.us
SUB DOMAINS:
cpanel.enemiesofthepeople.us
cpcalendars.enemiesofthepeople.us
cpcontacts.enemiesofthepeople.us
enemiesofthepeople.us
mail.enemiesofthepeople.us
ns1.enemiesofthepeople.us
ns2.enemiesofthepeople.us
webdisk.enemiesofthepeople.us
webmail.enemiesofthepeople.us
http://www.enemiesofthepeople.us

donttouchthegreenbutton.us —>Ties to AZ movement and had it’s own site on WayBack
enemiesofthepeople.us
donttouchthegreenbutton.net
enemiesofthepeople.org
donttouchthegreenbutton.org

Non Domain Named Sites:
2.56.242.22 —>Russia Hosting
193.56.255.179 —> Russia Hosting

Email addresses:
info@enemiesofthepeople.us

mailto:EnemiesOfThePeople@protonmail.com

mailto:EnemiesOfThePeople@hotmail.com

Domain contacts:
voychik-7923@yandex.com
ivan0v.pi@yandex.com
onzayt@yandex.com
Kulkov Ei
viladiof@yandex.com

Social Media Links:

https://vk.com/id628343065

https://twitter.com/Pe0pleThe

https://parler.com/profile/EOTP

https://gab.com/Enemies0fTheNati0n

FULL REPORTING of Domain Data HERE

As I said above, so far, the searches I have done show no real mistakes that would lead to the real people behind the sites, and that is going to have to come from the FBI getting warrants on the US entities (the .us domains and the sub domains likely will bear fruit) and track how the domains were paid for. Much of the other data gleaned from email addresses and names listed are pretty much dead ends on a cursory evaluation of them. Which, once again, leads me to believe that someone really wants you to think that this is Russia, but their tradecraft has been too good so far to make me think that these sites are all the work of the would be Trump acolytes, who for the most part, have shown themselves to not be tacticians.

I have yet to log into the social media sites, but I did look at the VK and it is brand new with no followers I could see. Overall though, this is something I will keep an eye on to see what develops and will report what I see when I see it.

For now though, the information operation is afoot, and, from what I have seen in chatter elsewhere, this will be a moth to the flame kind of thing for the more idiotic of the Trumplings. Here’s hoping that they all get rounded up for plotting assassinations and captures like the idiots who went after Witmer a while back.

K.

Post Script:

They also just added a jpg file of an alleged “SECRET” memo that alleges that Krebs (who ostensibly wrote and signed this document) stating that there was a hack that happened on the election systems from Dominion. This is a pretty bad attempt, and because they did not even take the time to fake up a PDF file, I am gonna just say they may be getting a little more desparate…

Updates:

Since wordpress is a fucking hot mess on editing, I lost some stuff so here it is again…

The sites keep getting updated with names and bios to attack now including Chris Wray

Meanwhile, the sites have started soliciting for Bitcoin with a wallet that at last check had about 6K in it and was zeroed out recently:

I also started a Maltego mapping session on the sites and all data:

Bitcoin transactions:

A Wade Through The COVID-19 Disinformation On The Internet

*Puts on BSL-IV positive pressure suit*

Right, some folks on the internet wanted a post about the disinformation around the Coronavirus (COVID-19 or SARS-CoV-2) and I had been looking around a bit anyway, so I decided to go a little deeper. First, let me say that there is some straight up crazy out there that is being propagated by the crazies in the world and the grifters, but, there is some real dangerous stuff as well. The gamut of the disinformation that I have seen thus far ranges from nation state to would be snake oil salesman who, a century ago, would be selling their shit off the back of a covered wagon to rubes in small towns. It is only by the fact of modern technology that these people now have a far wider and on the whole, gullible audience to purvey their brands of crazy.

 

So yeah, the range of things runs from guys making face masks to protect themselves from COVID19 by placing bikini underwear over their heads (as seen above) to outright grifter operations like the pastor and his peeps selling colloidal silver as the cure for Coronavirus. This virus has been a boon to many others than just our pal Mr. Bakker here seen below. A lot more within the religious space have grasped on to other crazy cures like Red Onions and prayer as well. I found a slew of posts on YouTube, Facebook, and Twitter alone to keep one busy for weeks looking into all the claims of a cure. In fact, you all should check out the hashtags of #CoronaCure, #COVID29Cure, and the like. You will see a lot.

 

ONIONS ARE THE CURE!

 

Others still though, are offering prophylaxis for the COVID19 pandemic like this guy selling “Bane” style face masks to stop you from getting infected. This mask could in fact be something that might be helpful, but, the only true mask that will help is the N95 mask that the doctors wear to prevent such transmission from happening not only when they wear them to stop things getting in, but also, and more to the point, for patients to wear so they do not spread the disease as easily through aerosol transmissions like breathing, sputum, and sneezing. It is most likely that this guys Bane mask is not the N95 filtering so yeah, you might look and sound like Bane, but you are more likely to get the COVID19.. While looking all cool and shit.

 

On the spectrum of political and Nation State sponsored disinformation about the COVID-19 pandemic, we have a range of people and countries with varying reasons for dis-informing the public about the pandemic. I will break these down into groups for you and reasons:

1) HongKong:

HongKong folks have a few reasons to disinform about this as well as present the real truths that the Chinese government does not want the outside world to know about. In the case of these YouTube videos I found, the disinformation is interspersed with real video coming out of Wuhan province that paints the Chinese leadership in a very poor light in their response to these events. It has come to pass that the Chinese officials have tried to keep a lid on the outbreak from the start, lying and obfuscating about the dire nature of the problem in Wuhan and in Hubei, but, this guy is just going all out with the Xi mask to promote all kinds of theories, including, yes, you guessed it, that the COVID-19 was in fact released from a bioweapons facility in Wuhan province.

*sigh*

 

2: Ex Pats With An Axe to Grind:

One site that stood out from a Twitter feed tied to disinformation on the outbreak was the G-News site. This site is chock full of the crazy and is put up by a Chinese ex pat who now lives in Emirates because he ran into some legal trouble in China. Miles Guo aka Guo Wengui, is funny to watch. He tries to present himself as an authority and insert himself in images like he is on with Bannon and the link, but in reality he isn’t a name you see on the news that often as far as I can tell. His axe to grind with China here is obviously why he is throwing in with Bannon and others putting out disinformation on the pandemic and about China in general.

 

 

3) Russia and Putin:

Oh Pooty, you love COVID19 long time. It is of course within the interest set for Putin and Russia to hit hard on the COVID19 situation as well. The advantages that they reap in wholesale division and fear on this one must be a priority just under the whole 2020 race as far as I am concerned. Of course, their mission will be to insert narratives into the 2020 election and against the candidates as agitprop to get Trump another four years in office. I am already seeing a setup on this that I will discuss further down the post. As it stands now, the bot activity has been ramping up on the hashtags for #COVID19 as well as #COVID19Bioweapon so keep your eyes peeled for narrative as well.

 

4) Trump and His Disinformation Forces:

Speaking of Trump and his disinformers… Trumps minions are now spinning up including Bannon and Rush, taking differing approaches to the whole affair. While I have not been able to stomach watching Bannon for more than a couple minutes, you can see he has a whole “war room” setup on YouTube where he has one of our pals Miles Kwok, or Miles Guo, or whatever name he chooses to use on the cast to throw out the disinformation about the pandemic. Guo, as you may remember above, has whole cloth claims on his site that the whole incident is from a leaked bioweapon in Wuhan, so, yeah…

On top of Bannon we have our pal Rush. Yes, Rush motherfucking Medal of Fucking Freedom Limbaugh as of two days ago began selling the idea to the morons that listen to him, that the COVID19 pandemic is in fact a putsch by China leaking a bioweapon against Trump. What’s even more holy what the actual fuck, is that he claims it was by the Democrats.

HOLY FUCKING SHIT.

What is the most fucked up thing is that I know there are fuckwits out there who will now believe this shit.

Voters.

5) The QAnon Conspiracy:

You didn’t think that those whacky QAnon’s would not add this whole COVID19 thing to their repertoire right? Welp, they have, and I suspect now that Rush has made his stand on that hill of disinfo, the QAnon’s will only ramp up from what I already saw on Twitter and Discord. Their spin of course is that it is a bioweapon as well. They also seem to be going on a bent about a conspiracy with the Jews again… These people need to get lives. One of the more interesting angles though is this whole “dead scientists” thing they have going. They also were making hay about the Chinese scientists who were arrested in Canada was it? Yeah, well, keep an eye out for more crazy over COVID19 out of them too.

 

 

 

Fucking Rush….

6) Rando Twitter Feeds and Trollbots:

Right, now the whole Twitter thing is crazy as usual, but, there is one account that I wanted to call out on the COVID19 disinformation crazy train. That account primarily is the @howroute account. This alleged comedian, actor, filmmaker, is none of those things. In fact, the only thing that seems to check out is the name Max as being one spelling of his real name, Maksym. Reporters have been following this guy’s disinformation on Twitter for some time now. This account has been putting out blatant disinformation around the pandemic for quite a while now, and though people have called him on it nothing has stopped him. In fact, his follower count has risen since I first became aware of him by the thousands. He went from nothing to nearly 50k followers since he started this whole disinformation campaign. All that is known at present is that Maksym is in America, he was born in Ukraine, attended university there, and then came to the states by information gleaned from the internet. Perhaps there are monetary goals here, maybe there is more, but this guy works in tech and lives in Washington state.

 

 

 

7) Lastly, our Favorite, Alex, YOU’RE TURNING THE FROGS GAY! Jones:

Alex, baby, you are one whackadoo guy looking to make a buck. Alex has as usual, been all over the bioweapon angle of the whole pandemic. Of course now with Rush and his fuckery, the two combined likely will be infecting the Fox news cycle too soon enough. In fact, the advent of Tom Cottonhead getting in on the whole thing shows just how fucked up things portend to be in the near future as things get hot. Cotton went on the news to say that he wanted more proof around the whole bioweapon leak and I am sure, will be bringing this up in the Senate as well.

Jesus fuck.

My one real questions is just how long it will be before Alex gets in on those sweet sweet colloidal silver dollars?

 

 

 

Well, there you have it kids. Make sure you get yourselves into the DECONTAMINATION UNIT as soon as you finish reading this post! I just brought you a smattering of the whole disinformation pie here. You can go look for yourselves if you like. I am going to go take a very long hot shower in lye and resume the whiskey intake as my prophylaxis against COVID19 and COVID19 Disinfo.

Cheers,

K.

 

Wuhan Novel Coronavirus Misinformation and Disinformation

This week I decided to watch “Contagion“, as one does in the midst of a potential pandemic like the current 2019-nCoV event that is unfolding across the globe. In the plot to this film, a novel strain of virus that is akin to the Coronavirus or a flu like the 1918 version that swept the world, sweeps the world and kills fairly quickly and painfully. The story is primarily about how the world might react to such an event today given the rapidity of transit, the connectivity of the populace through media and the internet, and how it all can fall apart very quickly. While watching it this time though, I could not but help to see one of the major plot lines mirroring the events in the real world today as the 2019-nCoV infects and travels from China to the rest of the world, much as the flu (called MEV-1) does in the film. The plot line I am talking about is the disinformation created and promulgated by an online “journalist blogger” played by Jude Law in the film; Alan Krumwiede, who starts blogging on how the governments of the world are hiding the truth about the outbreak, but also says that he has the cure in liquid Forsythia extract.

This all got me thinking about some of the misinformation, disinformation, and out and out conman activity out there today around the coronavirus we are dealing with today. So, last night I called a friend in <REDACTED> who works on disinformation research and counter measures and we talked for about an hour. Needless to say that both of us were more depressed when we ended the conversation than going into it because when you work in this field, you realize that there isn’t much you can do about it’s prevalence but try to get the truth out as best as you can. In that effort, I went to the net and began my Google Fu, looking for all the badness, and shit, it did not take long to locate. In my searches, I was able to locate numerous accounts on Twitter, Facebook, YouTube, and a slew of other blogs and alleged news sources feeding at best, unintentionally bad information to the worst offenders selling outright disinformation to sow chaos and fear.

Up until now my primary concern in the disinformation space as been the 2020 election cycle, but now this outbreak and, as of yesterday, ‘global emergency’ per W.H.O., has taken precedence in the disinformation sphere because the outcomes from disinformation around this virus could in fact spark violence and darker forces with more direct impacts to society than the election of Trump again. Don’t get me wrong, his re-election is a long term existential threat to the union, but this stuff could have people in the street rioting and looting. Since the virus has begun to spread and the Rnaught is 2.3 to 5.5 depending on who is giving the stat, shows that this virus is highly transmissible and now has shown person to person transmission as well. This means that as the weeks have passed we have seen infection reporting go up because of a few factors; the first is that we now have detection means, the second is that the virus has a longer incubation period of up to two weeks to show symptoms, while the third is that a rapid test for the virus in the person is still being developed as far as I know, so you could have a common flu or cold and you could be misdiagnosed until they test the virus after isolating a sample. All of these things can cause uncertainty in reporting, and thus, fear grows.

Additionally, the mortality rates of the virus can be skewed in reporting as well as a host of other factors that the general populace may not take into account. Things like the ages, relative health of those infected, and generally the medical and health habits of those patients play a key roll in whether or not they are more susceptible to dying from this coronavirus strain. That the primary deaths as far as I am aware have been in China and in people who may have had concomitant illness or issues, that led to their demise, not the variants pathology or lethality being any stronger than the previous coronavirus’ such as SARS we have dealt with in the past. So, anyone who takes a moment and understands the variables here will likely not freak out. This is not however the case of the masses and when the masses are also being given false or misleading information, well, things can go south really quickly.

 

As you can see from the above screenshots, there are many out there distorting the reality of what is actually happening and passing off much more dangerous information on the situation in China to stoke the fears of those who read their “news”. I found the usual suspects like Alex Jones and Hal Turner pumping out disinformation outright that the Wuhan coronavirus was in fact engineered in China as a bio-weapon and leaked by accident. In other more extreme cases these people are making claims that it was a deliberate attempt on the part of <INSERT BAD PEOPLE HERE> to cull the masses and start a world war and even perhaps to start the end times. In some extreme cases, the whole affair is being tied to what is known as the “White Genocide” that certain Nazi extremists tout as a staple in their toxic brew of bile. I am sorry to break it to you all, but 2019-nCoV is not the great killer that you are all making it out to be even if it has a higher mortality rate in China at the outset.

However, this is not stopping people from coloring outside the lines on this, and as the situation evolves, we will see people take the ball and move it over the crazy goal line pretty quickly I suspect. With all of this too, we have others who are offering “cures” for the coronavirus and this too is scary. In the case of the movie “Contagion” the blogger made over four million dollars selling Forsythia liquid during the outbreak. Actors like Alex Jones, who has been known for his crazy supplement and other nutrients sales on his site, is likely to follow suit and offer something by way of a cure eventually I am sure. This is all just selling potential hope to the fearful and if the pandemic really does heat up and mortality rates rise, cause more panic and violence in trying to acquire the magic elixir. We are already seeing runs on masks on Amazon and in brick and mortar stores like Home Depot. Never mind the fact that those masks that people are trying to buy, on average, will not be effective in preventing the wearer from contracting or spreading 2019-nCoV at all.

I guess, at it’s base, the problem with any pandemic socially, is that the standard operating procedure is to socially isolate yourselves from others. You are told to do so in case you are infected so as to not infect others, and conversely, you don’t want to be roaming about looking to get infected by contact right? So all of these circumstances click our mammalian or lizard brain into action. We become organized into our family groups and we do anything to protect ourselves and our loved ones. We do whatever it takes to survive, and in some cases that means looting, violence, and other bad behaviour out of fear. These are the things that the disinformation outlets are seeking to create, for whatever reasons they are doing it. Our greater problem other than fighting the virus is handling all of this misinformation and disinformation in order to preserve the society and the populace. In the extreme, such as in the movie “Contagion” the social order breaks down, and this could happen if this outbreak speeds up and outpaces the global responses.

I am unsure as to what the government is doing concerning this disinformation that is likely to be ramped up by nation state actors as well to set us against each other. It will likely be up to the companies like Google, Twitter, and Facebook to deal with the disinformation and misinformation, but, we know how well that has been handled in the past right? So, what I am telling you all is this; keep an eye on the disinfo around Wuhan, the pandemic, and the coronavirus. Things are likely to get pretty weird pretty fast, so remember, social distancing, washing hands frequently, and don’t touch your face as much, and if you do, wash your hands again!

*steps back into the BSL-IV containment unit*

K.

Put A Phishing Campaign In A Sealed Box With A Cat, and Some Poison….

So a startup run by a former NSA guy say’s that the GRU has spearphished Burisma by creating cloned pages…

Ok, and? Say, you got any kind of ya know, evidence there?

What’s that, no, nothing you can give us?

Well then, from Gods lips then.

Here’s my thing, whether or not the GRU has really hacked and gained access to Burisma, the fact that A-1 put this out to the NYT, the damage is done already ain’t it? This is how DISINFORMATION works kids! Now the fickle finger of flying fate has been launched and this means fuck all. Please understand gentle readers, that this is done now, no matter what so called evidence does turn up, the fact is this, EVERYTHING about this incident and now Burisma’s records is called into question as being tampered with. Specifically more so because no real proof was laid out here with, ya know, like forensic evidence.

Nope nope nope, just a nice little ad for A-1 right?

Yeah….

So yeah, as far as I am concerned, Burisma was likely owned by the GRU before this story and I would lay money on the fact that shits been tampered with. I will take everything with a grain of salt until such time as a forensics report is placed in front of me with that pesky EVIDENCE that things should all be based on.

Welcome to the 2020 race.

K.

How a Russian Disinfo Op Ended Up On A Sticker On A Sign In Colorado

I was recently passed the image above on a Twitter dm from someone who was out in their neighborhood and saw the sticker above on the back of a sign. The source tapped me to get a translation of the Arabic script above the CIA emblem. The translation of the script is the first part of the “Shahada” “There is no god but Allah” which is usually seen on the top of the Da’esh black flag you all may have seen prominently online and in the news over the last ten years.

In this case though, the intent of having the Shahada over the CIA emblem was odd for me. This is the first time I have seen this image and certainly so for the sender. This sticker is located in Colorado and after making some inquiries it seems to be an image that has been seen being pushed by Russian disinformation campaigns circa 2016-2017 concerning the Iranian/Saudi/Yemen dynamic ongoing still today. Where the CIA is brought in on this is that the Russian disinformation campaign started on RT (Russia Today). The story goes like this; The CIA sold or gave weapons to Saudi Arabia and were then turned over (unsure how) to Da’esh and the intonation is that there is complicity on the part of the US/CIA/Saudi in arming ISIS as a larger Zionist scheme to destabilize the region. Of course this should be something that should give us pause because the House of Saud has members who funded and perhaps worked with directly the 9/11 hijackers and Bin Laden. This is a kooky little disinfo plot but one that many buy into.

This of course may be the case, that the CIA put weapons into the hands of Saudi Arabia and they did in fact end up in the hands of Da’esh, but, the campaign by Russia here is to keep all of the players in the Middle East off balance while Russia plays all the angles in weapons sales, training, and having their pieces played on the board in the region. On top of this, the secondary play here is also to offer those who are conspiracy driven to also ask the question is there a deal between the Saudi’s and Israel to work against Iran as well.

Interestingly enough, the Iranians are prone as a society to conspiracy belief, so this plays well with them and foments more ire. If indeed the CIA is part of a Zionist scheme, well, they are all over that shit because Iran and Israel, well, don’t get along as you may well know. So, the image first shows up in 2016 on RT and then makes the rounds in certain circles. Fast forward to today, the image turns up in the form you see at the top of the page. The original version is the following image below.

The persistence of the image has been propagated further from the Qanon groups picking it up and passing it around as well as other conspiracy sites. That it has now turned up in a sticker in Colorado is what is more of a mystery though is who had this made? Was it just a one off? Are there more on offer online? Most of all, what is the intent here by the poster of the sticker? Is this just a random image pasted on a sign by someone or does that person really believe the disinformation that RT posted and is still being passed around today in certain quarters?

The meaning of the imagery can be read in a few ways. The first to me would be an indemnification of the CIA and the US government. The thought being that the CIA and the US government are in on perpetuating Da’esh and the wars in the region as a Zionist plot with the House of Saud. The imagery of this simply seems to equate the CIA to Da’esh. In fact, there is a conspiracy video (linked here) that says that John Brennan became a Muslim and that Da’esh is actually akin to a mind control program like Jonestown.

… Jonestown? Really? Claims are even made that Jim Jones was a CIA agent.

I shit you not.

Yes, the former intelligence analyst (alleged) in the video and the host makes these claims. Now there is some conspiracy for ya! So, back to the sticker. If more show up perhaps there is an issue here. If anyone out there see’s more of these let me know. At the very least this is just another example for you all on how RU disinformation reaches out from sources like RT, to the net, to physical stickers placed on signs in places. Of course this showing up now, as we are potentially going weapons hot on Iran post the Saudi refinery drone attacks may be a coincidence, but, it is rather on the nose timing wise.

Honestly, if Russia is pushing these narratives again, it would make sense in that they are trying to stir the pot post the Trump administration’s pulling out of the JCPOA and tensions rising of late in the Straight of Hormuz. Very interesting times indeed. So, if you see one of these stickers or you see the imagery being used feel free to send me a note or a DM. In the meantime, keep an eye on the news because I sense things are going to get hairy in the near future.

~K.

The 2020 Disinformation and Election Meddling Melee Playbook.

The Game:

 

“There is no objective truth, there is only subjective truth”

The upcoming 2020 Election cycle will be an all out melee I suspect for a few reasons. The first reason I am making this claim is that the US has done pretty much nothing under Trump to secure the next election because Trump cannot bear to discuss what happened in 2016 and has rebuffed Homeland Security and others ovations to talk about 2020’s security. Additionally, even not talking about the subject, Trump has seen fit to do absolutely nothing about the problem because, hey, it’s how he won the last time right? The big difference in the next election cycle’s attacks will be that the field has opened up much more since the playbook was used by the GRU and SVR in 2016. Now we will have a slew of other nation states as well as internal players (Republicans, Dems, and private groups with interests) who now can spin up campaigns of their own using the Russian active measures playbook.

The Players:

Russia

Russia will undoubtedly has already spun up operations tempo on the 2020 election cycle. We have seen an uptick already in GRU style action in disinformation stories being published by the likes of Sputnik and RT. Of course these entities are always at this, but, it seems the online game has also been at work with fake accounts on Facebook, Twitter, and other places online. The real question now is how will the GRU and the Kremlin innovate to counter the paltry efforts of Facebook and Twitter and get their message out.

Of course Russia already has the in with Trump in office to begin with and it seems that play for play Trump emulates or communicated what the Kremlin wants, in effect Trump is Putin’s puppet even if he doesn’t really understand that fact. The reality though is this; the Russians have moved in on all fronts and are using proxies to effect the overall fractured nature of the political landscape today not only in the US but all over the world. Remember, Putin’s goal is to cause chaos, division, and a malaise that will leave their perceived enemies unable to function as a nation/government/force that could threaten them.

To that end, we even have been seeing more incursions lately into US air space by BEAR-FOXTROT bombers with SU-35’s. This is also a means of pressure to keep the US off balance and garner news cycles. Russia will continue overtly and covertly to influence the US in myriad ways to keep us off balance and continue the division that makes us unable to act on the world stage with decisive action. The most insidious actions though will be to continue to use money and power to further their goals internally within the US along with kompromat to keep a hold on those in power that they can use.

Trump & Surrogates

We have been seeing what Trump and his surrogates have been doing these last two years already if you have been paying attention. Trump’s use of the constant rallies, constant lies, and “iniquity signalling” will only crescendo as he leads up to the 2020 vote. Trump’s current actions against the IC are also a means of control and division as well. I am sure that Trump will use any and all TS/TSCI information that Barr might declassify to leak or blatantly beat the media and his perceived enemies with it. Let’s just say that a person like Trump with this kind of power will use anything and everything he can get his hands on to distort and destroy in furtherance of his own power.

I would be looking for more disinformation operations being created and played out by not only Trump’s internal teams but also any others who may feel a kinship to his world view. You will likely see more home grown operations like Jacob Wohl’s though some might actually not be as easily stopped as has last few attempts. I would also say that Trump himself, with his patterns of lies, half truths, and confabulation, is a main player in this because he has the multiple stages of media that include the internet via Twitter at his disposal. Of course now that Trump and Barr are in a position to declassify TS/SCI information and weaponize it, we are likely to see much more come from the candidate/president than we have ever seen before as a nation. As I am writing this as well, the debate cycle for the Democratic party starts this evening, so buckle up kids, it is all starting in earnest. It will be interesting though to watch the President and his minions to see exactly what operations they try. Perhaps I will take notes and have a follow up list of attacks that he and his minions carry out.

China:

China has always had an interest in our politics and more specifically, our economy for a long time now. In that the shackles of information warfare have been removed by Russia, the Chinese are likely to be more aggressive in this arena as well. China is currently in an economic war with the whole of the world and it is their hegemony alone that they seek to effect. Of course now Trump has begun a trade war with China so there is even more inclination for China to play a part in effecting a change in our leadership with an eye toward a more accommodating trade policy from a more friendly candidate. The question there is who among the Democrats, Republicans (if any run) and or third party candidates suits their goals. I also wonder if maybe China might make the same calculus about American politics and dysfunction as the Russians do and just seek to cause more chaos. This would mean that the US as a global power would be that much more diminished and would give China a more free hand to assert their power along with Russia globally.

Hmmm….

Frankly, China has more to lose were the US to go up in flames financially than in trying to stabilize things here though. My gut tells me that they will attempt to get Trump out and place a more friendly face in the office with any means that they can (probably dark money to candidate of their choice) to stop the Trump trade war…

Iran:

Well, this will be the new and youthful player in the space this election cycle. Iran is presently on the edge of forever war with Bolton and Trump it seems and their delusions are getting stronger by the day that Iran is an existential threat. Iran will have to play catch up with regard to disinformation and information operations before they can be a real player like Russia or even China but I am sure they will be playing the game as well. In fact, there have been more moves on the internet of late that seem to be leading toward psyops and disinfo ops for the upcoming elections so keep an eye on them.

DPRK:

DPRK is a dark horse here and I am sure they will be taking part as well in the great games of 2020. History has shown that Un and his forces are a little more kinetic than most of the others in their operations online and off. Actually, in the arena they are second to Russia so I would be looking for some hacks and perhaps dumps akin to what Russia pulled off in 2016 to muddy the waters further. Of course in the case of Un and DPRK it is also in their interest to keep Donny in office. Donny is a weak president that Un can lie to and manipulate in order to further his own ends no matter what Donny says about their great relationship. I think if we watch for DPRK activity we will see some hacks, dumps, and more likely than those dark monies being funneled to campaigns to further their ends.

Saudi Arabia:

Saudi… What’s more to say right? Money, more money, more influence, and perhaps some disinformation as an appetizer? My bet would be that Saudi will go full in on Trump and perhaps be passing him dirt on candidates as well as funneling large sums to the Trump campaign to keep him in there. With the Kashoggi killing and the total air cover by Trump for that killing, I am sure that Saudi is a lock in support for Trump. With the alleged hack and dump on Bezos’ phone, we can see that if it was indeed Saudi who carried that out in retaliation for the WashPo, well, then they are certainly capable of much more. The question for me is just how much they will care to try and obfuscate where it’s all emanating from.

Scenarios

Disinformation:

What we have seen in disinformation operations since 2016 is just the tip of the iceberg. With the advent of social media and now computing power, we will likely see even more forgery of information or distortion of data that will cause people to believe all kinds of things in this election cycle. Remember, the point is to cause friction and sow chaos so the media does not have to be air tight, it only has to feed the cognitive dissonance of the target audience that they target. Even with information being proven to be false, we have seen people’s inability to get past their own beliefs to see the truth of things. So by dropping video, audio, articles, etc the damage is done and the momentum is carried. Look for the following types of disinformation operations:

• Fake video (DeepFake) of individuals in the election cycle (even if they are easily found to be false)
• Tampered video (Pelosi is slurring words)
• Faked or tampered audio files
• False information being leaked or posted (including forged email spools, documents, etc)
• False or misleading stories being amplified on media
• Leaking false information to news outlets (Leaked forged or tampered with databases)
• Leaking false information in the form of oppo (opposition research) to opponents (Think Steele dossier on steroids created whole cloth)
• YouTube and other video documentaries or clips with totally fictional content offered as “the truth” like flat earth videos
• Insertion and operation of accounts on Twitter, Facebook, Telegram, Discord, Redit, basically any feed available with an audience to spill disinformation on

Propaganda:

Propaganda and Disinformation are kissing cousins really. Basically all of the above being pumped out by the likes of RT, FOX News, and other outlets. The ubiquity of the advertising and the news feeds that have become wholly about propaganda has made this hard to miss and or be affected by today.

• Meme’s
• Television/Internet/Radio news and advertising
• YouTube videos and ads (lately they have been buying up interstitial space as well as before and after videos)
• Whatabout-ism

Dirty Tricks:

Dirty tricks have been a long standing go to in our political system and now it is getting a re-assessment and revitalization since 2016. I would wholly attribute this to Roger Stone and his machinations along with the Trump/Russia collusion that took place. Incidents can be clearly outlined in 2016 like the actions of Cambridge Analytica that were caught on tape. Cambridge was looking to sell services of not only analytics but also dirty tricks by capturing people on tape with hookers etc to destroy them. Stone is famously known as being a dirty trickster and worked as such in the Nixon campaign. So yeah, we are likely to see this play out in 2020 as well. I would hasten to add that the recent Giuliani attempts in Ukraine to get dirt on Joe Biden are exactly this type of activity albeit totally and nakedly open to us all to see. You see, even the whiff of this dirt feeds the cognitive dissonance of the avid Trumper.

• Setup’s like ACORN or Cambridge Analytica offerings of secret videos
• Sex stings with video/audio/pictures
• National Enquirer-esque leaks of dirt
• Blog posts, tweets, etc that can be forged and said to be from a candidate
• Fake claims made against candidates etc
• Theft and release of information that is not flattering to a candidate (honestly, this is what happened to Clinton in 2016, what was really revelatory in those email dumps?)

Direct Action:

Russia really set the bar here for direct action. The hacking and leaking of information, even data that like the Clinton emails was a big “meh” was enough to feed the base of Trump and perhaps change minds of those who were on the fence about voting for her. Then again, the idea of hacking the election systems and the systems that tally the rolls has not been totally elucidated upon by the FBI and others. The fact of the matter is this, we now know that the GRU hacked those systems and had access, we just have no idea of what they actually did while on them. Did GRU put their thumb on the electoral scale and win Donny the election by the smallest of margins via the electoral system?

…. I kinda think they did but no proof means no certainty.

With that, consider what may happen this go round in 2020.

• Hacking and dumping of data as we saw in 2016
• Hacking and destruction of systems in an effort to make systems seem insecure/not trustworthy
• Hacking and placing disinformation into data then leaking for effect
• Hacking election systems and tampering with them secretly for vote control
• Hacking systems not to actually damage them or change the vote but only to sow FUD on their security
• Hacking and use of data in blackmail
• Hacking and using ransomware etc to lock up systems and cause chaos and inaction

TRUMP:

Donny has been hard at work since taking office by having the constant rallies for his base. He has been feeding them a steady mixture of lies, distortions, and promises of “winning” since the start. Faced now with another election cycle where he could potentially be beat, he will go into overdrive with his antics to keep his base active as well as make all opponents look bad. What Trump will double down on though will be the same things as he has previously, e.g. “rigged elections, fake news, and whatever the Kremlin line is being put out there currently” I would add though, these bullet points of what he will likely try in 2020 pre and post election.

• Begins to call election system into question pre-election
• Leverages National Guard and or Active MIL to “guard” polling stations nationally (pressure on people to not vote through intimidation)
• Calls the election “rigged” and challenges the result
• Makes calls for his term to be extended
• Calls a national emergency if he loses and attempts to go to court over the election results
• Calls for a re-call election due to tampering
• His usual disinformation road show will go full steam during the election cycle
• Trump will amp up the discord by doing more outrageous things
• Lastly, the Trump/Barr IC war will be leveraged against his perceived enemies using secret data to dump or distort to attack if not actually attempt to arrest his enemies.

Conclusions:

Well, here we are at what kind of feels like the end of Democracy. Trump is the catalyst for so much that is a detriment to the values of the United States that it is hard to even to attempt to prognosticate what he will try to keep his place in the White House. Of course, as I said before in this piece, the norms have all been broken now and the US and other countries still have not made any inroads and how to respond to these kinds of attacks. This means that we are all just unable to stop these things from happening and without solid responses when they do. This will all just escalate and get worse I fear with a specific scenario that Trump, by hook or by crook, wins in 2020 and is allowed to destroy how the countries government is supposed to work.

This is a key fact, we do not have a means of stopping the disinformation propagation nor do we have a means to effectively counter its effects. without laws and norms around this as well as a means to counter it all, we are lost. I have been watching the think tank reports and have in fact taken part in some of these working groups and in every case, it comes back to “what does the government have as tools and techniques to counter this?” and the answer even more so now is “none” … In fact, Trump has cut funding as well as ignored calls to formulate plans to stop these attacks on Democracy.

The net effect is we are fucked.

So, sit back kids, grab a tasty beverage and watch the fires of what is left of our Democracy burn.

… That’s kinda Millennial huh?

K.