The Internet is a tool unmatched for psychological warfare. Information, disinformation, propaganda and counter propaganda can be lodged like missiles over the Internet in seconds and resonate around the world. With the popularity of the Internet many people are getting their news from those channels including Facebook and Twitter. Posting disinformation can change how people perceive an event. There have even been affects to the stock market based on information on the Internet.
These perceived sets of information can cause people to change their beliefs or in the mode of terrorism the information that is disseminated can be used to sway people to believe certain things. This ability to use the Internet as a recruiting tool has been an issue to government organizations. There is more work needed on the Internet to stop these recruiting methods.
In the grydscaen series there are the Packrat hackers and the T-hack which are constantly fighting the Elite government of the Pacific Territories for the ability to post information on the gridscan. The Elite government is constantly taking down websites and censoring information and data that the people can see. Even the newsfeed is influenced by the government in what they show. The Packrats at times have taken over the newsfeed to be able to disseminate information. And the Packrats go behind the government and bring up new sites after others are taken down. It is a constant fight against the Elite for information freedom.
Hacked Twitter accounts can spread misinformation and rumors that people see. And even in this day and age where information is everywhere some mediums have more weight than others. Many people rely on the Internet for news but some false stories are out there influencing minds. With these false stories impacting us our reactions to them are also biased by this false information making our responses different than they would be if we had the proper information. The use of information to influence us about society is one of the biggest issues we face. Human rights abuses, terrorism, autocratic governments, government overreach all these things require information for people to react to. The information disseminated can steer people towards or away from opinions on these practices.
The fight for hearts and minds is especially critical when it comes to stopping the influx of youth wanting to participate in anti-state actions. This information that these youth rely on to find these activities that change their minds and push them to radical thinking are found on the Internet. Counter terrorism organizations need to address these avenues and actually counteract them with other information that steers these youth away from radicalism. But these websites and the information that they propagate are flashy and drive right to the heart of disaffected youth who may be lost and searching for acceptance. Only with a solid counter intelligence operation can hearts and minds be swayed from falling into the path of no return.
The grydscaen series talks about terrorism with the T-hack and the Packrat hackers going up against the government. The government group that stands against them is the Psi Faction a military organization that has their own hackers and clandestine operatives whose sole mission is to go up against the hackers and to understand the environment that the hackers thrive in. The Psi Faction’s sole purpose is to stop cyber terrorism through its mission.
Psychological warfare is a critical part of cyber warfare something that we can see in the current day. With the hacks on the Democratic National Committee to the release of emails from WikiLeaks we see that hackers can uncover information relatively easily and disseminate it out having an effect on possible elections and people’s perceptions of the two party system. Even though the polls in the United States change week to week, these releases of information have an impact on what people perceive of the candidates and the parties. If it is individual hackers, state actors, or government sponsored acts of cyber crime the proliferation of information gathered from these hacks has significant influence on things.
Cyber warfare is not something new. Understanding the nature of digital covert warfare is necessary to understand the threat out there to individuals, government, and corporations. The development of the Internet has allowed the intelligence community to use the Internet as a tool for espionage, surveillance, sabotage, propaganda, disinformation and disenchantment making it more dangerous than before. We are all at risk for cyber warfare. The tools of warfare may be the same but the playground is different all surrounding the ever present nature of the Internet.
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