The Weaponization and Exploitation of History, Religion, and EconomicsCSIS Brief, May 14th, 2019https://csis-prod.s3.amazonaws.com/s3fs-public/publication/190514_ConleyandMelino_RussianInfluence_layout_v2.pdf The Issue Russian malign influence in the Western Balkans is proving to have a political impact in Montenegro through the exploitation of the Orthodox faith, Pan-Slavic identity, and economics. The coup attempt in October 2016 was influence in action as it sought […]Read More

ASD Director Laura Rosenberger will testify before the House Committee on Foreign Affairs’ Subcommittee on Europe, Eurasia, Energy, and the Environment on “Undermining Democracy: Kremlin Tools of Malign Political Influence.” Rosenberger will discuss financial and economic vectors of Russia’s interference within the context of its wider authoritarian toolkit. You can watch the testimony live at […]Read More

Our Take The Kremlin’s use of malign finance to undermine democracy: ASD Director Laura Rosenberger will testify before the House Committee on Foreign Affairs’ Subcommittee on Europe, Eurasia, Energy, and the Environment on “Undermining Democracy: Kremlin Tools of Malign Political Influence.” Rosenberger will discuss financial and economic vectors of Russia’s interference within the context of […]Read More

Cyber Endeavor 2019 is an upcoming symposium sponsored by Naval Postgraduate School and the DoD’s IO Center for Research. The theme for Cyber Endeavour 2019 is “Advancing US and NATO Interests Against Russian Aggression: Policy, Strategy, and Operations in the Information Environment.”  A number of experts from government, academia, and private industry will participate and […]Read More

Endless Mayfly’s Ephemeral Disinformation Campaign By Gabrielle Lim, Etienne Maynier, John Scott-Railton, Alberto Fittarelli, Ned Moran, and Ron Deibert May 14th, 2019, The CitizenLab https://citizenlab.ca/2019/05/burned-after-reading-endless-mayflys-ephemeral-disinformation-campaign/ Endless Mayfly1 is an Iran-aligned network of inauthentic websites and online personas used to spread false and divisive information primarily targeting Saudi Arabia, the United States, and Israel. Using this network […]Read More

Russia’ Strategy Russia Has Americans’ Weaknesses All Figured Out | Jim Scuitto | The Atlantic States Shine Light on Russian Trolls’ Hiding Places | Ian Vanderwalker | Brennan Center For Justice Russia Is Targeting Europe’s Elections. So Are Far-Right Copycats | Matt Apuzzo & Adam Satariano | New York Times The Lawfare Podcast: John Sipher […]Read More

Craig Timberg and Tony Romm, May 16th 2019, Washington Post https://www.washingtonpost.com/technology/2019/05/16/facebook-shuts-down-israel-based-disinformation-campaigns-election-manipulation-increasingly-goes-global/ Facebook said it shut down 265 fake accounts run by an Israeli social media company on Thursday for engaging in “coordinated inauthentic behavior” as it sought to affect politics in African, Latin American and Southeast Asian nations. The move, while underscoring the increasingly global nature of […]Read More

How the Style and Language of News Presentation Is Changing in the Digital Age Jennifer Kavanagh, William Marcellino, Jonathan S. Blake, Shawn Smith, Steven Davenport, and Mahlet G. Tebeka RAND Corporation, May 2019 Over the past 30 years, the ways that Americans consume and share information have changed dramatically. No longer do people wait for […]Read More

Report: Iran-linked disinformation effort had personal touch Raphael Satter, Associated Press in the Washington Post, May 14th 2019 When an attractive young Middle Eastern woman contacted Saudi dissident Ali AlAhmed over Twitter last November, he was immediately suspicious. Deepfakes are coming. We’re not ready. Brian Klaas, Opinion, Washington Post, May 14th 2019 If 2016 was the […]Read More

New Report Shows How a Pro-Iran Group Spread Fake News Online Scott Shane and Ronen Bergman, May 14th 2019, New York Times Ali Al-Ahmed is a veteran critic of the Saudi government, so late last year he was not surprised to receive a Twitter message purporting to be from an Egyptian woman living in London […]Read More