Mike Chapple - (ISC)2 CISSP Certified Information Systems Security Professional Official Study Guide

Influence campaigns are social engineering attacks that attempt to guide, adjust, or change public opinion. Although such attacks might be undertaken by hackers against individuals or organizations, most influence campaigns seem to be waged by nation-states against their real or perceived foreign enemies.

Influence campaigns are linked to the distribution of disinformation, propaganda, false information, “fake news,” and even the activity of doxing. Misleading, incomplete, crafted, and altered information can be used as part of an influence campaign to adjust the perception of readers and viewers to the concepts, thoughts, and ideologies of the influencer. These tactics have been used by invaders for centuries to turn a population against their own government. In the current digital information age, influence campaigns are easier to wage than ever before and some of the perpetrators are domestic. Modern influence campaigns don't need to rely on distribution of printed materials but can digitally transmit the propaganda directly to the targets.

Doxing is the collection of information about an individual or an organization (which can also include governments and the military) in order to disclose the collected data publicly for the purpose of chaining the perception of the target. Doxing can include withholding of information that contradicts the intended narrative of the attacker. Doxing can fabricate or alter information to place false accusations against the target. Doxing has been an unfortunately effective tool against individuals and organizations deployed by hackers, hacktivists, journalists, and governments alike.

Nations no longer limit their attacks against their real or perceived enemies using traditional, kinetic weaponry. Now they combine classical military strategy with modern capabilities, including social engineering, digital influence campaigns, psychological warfare efforts, political tactics, and cyberwarfare capabilities. This is known as hybrid warfare . Some entities use the term nonlinear warfare to refer to this concept.

It is important to realize that nations will use whatever tools or weapons are available to them when they feel threatened or decide they must strike first. With the use of hybrid warfare tactics, there is far greater risk to every individual than in battles of the past. Now with cyberwar and influence campaigns, every person can be targeted and potentially harmed. Keep in mind that harm is not just physical in hybrid warfare; it can also damage reputation, finances, digital infrastructure, and relationships.

For a more thorough look hybrid warfare, read the United States Government Accountability Office’s “Hybrid Warfare” report at www.gao.gov/products/gao-10-1036r.

“Cyberwarfare: Origins, Motivations and What You Can Do in Response” is a helpful paper you can find at www.globalknowledge.com/us-en/resources/resource-library/white-papers/cyberwarfare-origins-motivations-and-what-you-can-do-in-response.

Social media has become a weapon in the hands of nation-states as they wage elements of hybrid warfare against their targets. In the last decade, we have seen evidence of several nations, including our own, participate in social media–based influence campaigns. You should realize that you cannot just assume that content you see on a social network is accurate, valid, or complete. Even when quoted by your friends, when referenced in popular media, when seemingly in line with your own expectations, you have to be skeptical of everything that reaches you through your digital communication devices. The use and abuse of social media by adversaries foreign and domestic brings the social engineering attack concept to a whole new level.

A great resource for learning how not to fall for false information distributed through the internet is the “Navigating Digital Information” series presented by the YouTube channel CrashCourse: www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL8dPuuaLjXtN07XYqqWSKpPrtNDiCHTzU.

Workers can easily waste time and system resources by interacting with social media when that task is not part of their job description. The company's acceptable user policy (AUP) should indicate that workers need to focus on work while at work rather than spending time on personal or non-work-related tasks.

Social media can be a means by which workers intentionally or accidentally distribute internal, confidential, proprietary, or PII data to outsiders. This may be accomplished by typing in messages or participating in chats in which they reveal confidential information. This can also be accomplished by distributing or publishing sensitive documents. Responses to social media issues can include blocking access to social media sites by adding IP blocks to firewalls and resolution filters to Domain Name System (DNS) queries. Violating workers need to be reprimanded or even terminated.

The successful implementation of a security solution requires changes in user behavior. These changes primarily consist of alterations in normal work activities to comply with the standards, guidelines, and procedures mandated by the security policy. Behavior modification involves some level of learning on the part of the user. To develop and manage security education, training, and awareness, all relevant items of knowledge transference must be clearly identified and programs of presentation, exposure, synergy, and implementation crafted.

A prerequisite to security training is awareness . The goal of creating awareness is to bring security to the forefront and make it a recognized entity for users. Awareness establishes a common baseline or foundation of security understanding across the entire organization and focuses on key or basic topics and issues related to security that all employees must understand. Awareness is not exclusively created through a classroom type of presentation but also through the work environment reminders such as posters, newsletter articles, and screen savers.

Instructor-led awareness, training, and education provides the best opportunity for real-time feedback from attendees.

Awareness establishes a minimum standard common denominator or foundation of security understanding. All personnel should be fully aware of their security responsibilities and liabilities. They should be trained to know what to do and what not to do.

The issues that users must be aware of include avoiding waste, fraud, and unauthorized activities. All members of an organization, from senior management to temporary interns, need the same level of awareness. The awareness program in an organization should be tied in with its security policy, incident-handling plan, business continuity, and disaster recovery procedures. For an awareness-building program to be effective, it must be fresh, creative, and updated often. The awareness program should also be tied to an understanding of how the corporate culture will affect and impact security for individuals as well as the organization as a whole. If employees do not see enforcement of security policies and standards among the C-level executives, especially at the awareness level, then they may not feel obligated to abide by them either.