Page 113 - Cyber Defense eMagazine forJune 2021

Undermining Public Trust

The cycle of hacks and leaks before prominent elections is almost commonplace. With French President
Emmanuel Macron’s email leaks ahead of his 2017 election to the pivotal email leaks of then-presidential
candidate Hillary Clinton via Wikileaks, it’s becoming less of a surprise when these leaks drop. And while
it might be easier for the public to turn their eyes to these concrete examples of influence campaigns
rooted in breaches, it is important not to overlook or discredit the ongoing presence of disinformation
based influence campaigns.

For example, in early May the Washington Post reported that former President Trump’s lawyer, Rudy.
Giuliani was the target of a Russian influence campaign ahead of the 2020 election. And with no tangible
hack or information dump for the public to latch onto, it can become increasingly difficult for citizens to
discern exactly how and when they are being influenced by the effects of these types of campaigns,
especially when this “news” is being amplified by fake accounts. Further, if the January 6, 2021 attack on
the U.S. Capitol is indicative of public trust in elections, it’s easy to see the lasting and significant effects
disinformation campaigns can have on governmental systems; and that is not even taking into account
the disinformation spread by conspiracy groups and others around the attack itself.

Though it is tempting to write off these attacks as one off responses to election cycles, disinformation
campaigns throughout the pandemic have proved these types of attacks are anything but singular events.
Both China and Russia launched disinformation campaigns to discredit trust in Western vaccines.

Over the past few years, we’ve seen continued efforts on the part of Chinese diplomats to increase and
amplify their social media presence, despite the state’s ban on those platforms. Beyond the posts, Twitter
has identified a multitude of fake accounts retweeting and engaging with their posts, serving to not only
amplify their messaging, but also create an appearance of groundswell support. Though Twitter already
has and will continue to ban fake accounts as they are detected, it hasn’t succeeded in stopping bot
accounts in support of the Chinese government. As the Associated Press reports, as alleged support and
engagement with the original Tweets continues, there is an increased risk these propaganda posts can
distort Twitter’s algorithm that boosts popular posts.

Yet China’s manipulation of U.S. politics and sentiment via social media is nothing new. Typical internet
denizens need to look no further than the uproar sparked by a tweet in support of Hong Kong protests by
then-Houston Rockets general manager, Daryl Morey. The Wall Street Journal in partnership with
researchers at Clemson University determined that following his tweet, Morey was the target of a
coordinated harassment campaign. The amplification around supposed internet users’ responses served
to sway American conversations around Hong Kong and China, both in political discussions, but also in
matters related to the U.S. companies’ financial interests.

The effects of disinformation campaigns continue to seep into the everyday life of the average internet
user, resulting in gradual yet drastic effects in the country’s perception of politics, international affairs,
finance and the like. The United States needs to start prioritizing these types of attacks when approaching

Cyber Defense eMagazine – June 2021 Edition 113
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