The spread of fake news and the rise of disinformation is plaguing the modern world by destroying the very fabric that is keeping our society safe and democracy standing.
Separating fact from fiction has never been harder, and with the popularity of social media misleading information is spreading like wildfire. It is swaying elections, distorting truth and putting people in harm’s way. So, what can be done to ensure there is balance between free speech and the accuracy of information shared? We asked a panel of experts to discuss this further in a live Tweet Chat as part of the wider Security Serious campaign Action Against Disinformation.
The panel:
- Neira Jones – Fraud, Cybersecurity and FinTech Consultant
- Madeline Howard – Socio-Technical Engagement Manager at Cygenta
- Tony Morbin – IT Security Guru Editor
- Eoin Keary – CEO/Founder at Edgescan
- Javvad Malik – Security Awareness Advocate at KnowBe4
Firstly, we asked the panel what Fake News meant to them and had they ever been duped. Seeing as these are professionals from a variety of roles within the cybersecurity industry, it was interesting to see their reactions with some even admitting to being duped:
A1: I believed Ozzy Osbourne bit the head off a live bat – it was dead (so that’s OK). I was responsible for a Fake News story as an April Fool joke, and had my editor ask for a photo of the person quoted, so it’s clearly possible to fool people. #cybersecurity #AADisinformation
— Tony Morbin (@tonymorbin) October 27, 2020
A1: I believed Ozzy Osbourne bit the head off a live bat – it was dead (so that’s OK). I was responsible for a Fake News story as an April Fool joke, and had my editor ask for a photo of the person quoted, so it’s clearly possible to fool people. #cybersecurity #AADisinformation
— Tony Morbin (@tonymorbin) October 27, 2020
A1. I think I get duped (even if it’s temporarily) more often than I’d care to admit. Many times it’s where an image or video is posted out of context or with a misleading caption causing a spike in outrage. Yes, despite knowing it – I still get suckered.#AADisinformation https://t.co/a3fupjusTO
— Javvad Malik v2.0 (@J4vv4D) October 27, 2020
Funnily enough, a hoax story regarding the re-formation of Highstreet retailer Woolworths was circulating in the news and on social media on the same day as the tweet chat which clearly shows the reality of fake news today:
A1: Well, for a second, this nearly got me… https://t.co/ZE12f8ctQ0#AADisinformation
— Neira Jones (@neirajones) October 27, 2020
But what role do algorithms, bots, and trolls play in the spread of fake news and disinformation? They are often considered the devious messengers designed to mislead the masses…
A2 Bots are one of the key components in spreading disinformation wide and far… they help get the lie across the world before the truth even gets its pants on! #AADisinformation https://t.co/ArQ8Fh1P7Q pic.twitter.com/lBdVY1QPBP
— Javvad Malik v2.0 (@J4vv4D) October 27, 2020
A2: A HUGE role! Bots are frequently set up to look like legitimate accounts. A great example of this was ‘NHS Susan’ whose profile used emotional cues to dupe people into believing the account was real and to provoke a reaction on social media.https://t.co/5wqexrYQbB
— Madeline (@MadzzHoward) October 27, 2020
A2: #AADisinformation They automate disinformation by pretending to be from a demographic who would naturally be against a movement but oppose the natural train of thought. (turkey voting for xmas).
This injects doubt in minds of folks. Bots automate this process at large scale.— Eoin K (@EoinKeary) October 27, 2020
The media landscape has also changed, and we seem to have transcended into a culture whereby news has started to be driven by content designed to draw responses and interest
from the public which would encourage them to then click on the titles of the aforesaid pages. This has quickly introduced the click-bait culture which has certainly blurred what we now view as ‘news’.
A2: #AADisinformation They automate disinformation by pretending to be from a demographic who would naturally be against a movement but oppose the natural train of thought. (turkey voting for xmas).
This injects doubt in minds of folks. Bots automate this process at large scale.— Eoin K (@EoinKeary) October 27, 2020
A3: Absolutely. The use of sensationalist language & over exaggerated claims to play on our emotions (e.g fear, panic & intrigue) and is a successful method to increase the spread of fake news. You could see it as social engineering on a mass scale…! #AADisinformation
— Madeline (@MadzzHoward) October 27, 2020
We have all read sensational headlines that piqued our interest & caused us to click to find out more – only to find what was in the headline was not in the story. Or that the story was totally unsubstantiated. We are living this now. #ITSecGuru #cybersecurity #AADisinformation
— Tony Morbin (@tonymorbin) October 27, 2020
When we think of fake news and disinformation some will assume it just affects the mainstream media but in truth it can impact any industry. So, has it crept into the cybersecurity sector and what lengths have our panellists gone too in stopping it?
A4: #AADisinformation Yes in particular in terms of cyber sales, capability description and marketing. #snakeoil
Attack attribution also can be fake and hard to prove otherwise, but we all love a story!! pic.twitter.com/yfWY0ko1Dy— Eoin K (@EoinKeary) October 27, 2020
A4 I think fake news and disinformation unfortunately touch nearly every aspect of life directly or indirectly and cybersecurity is no exception.
From reputation damage to personal attacks to mixing in with social engineering attacks, been seeing more of this. https://t.co/5buMXoCeWT pic.twitter.com/F3ilkUPXMm
— Javvad Malik v2.0 (@J4vv4D) October 27, 2020
A4: Cyber criminals are using fake news as another method to spread their scams, this is making cyber security more challenging for individuals and organisations. It’s important that we start raising awareness of this now! #AADisinformation
— Madeline (@MadzzHoward) October 27, 2020
A5: Internally @CygentaHQ we share lots of articles & news stories with one another. We support one another by commenting if an article doesn’t report correctly. Helping each other to understand and spot fake news is important. #AADisinformation
— Madeline (@MadzzHoward) October 27, 2020
A5 Yes. Through user education, awareness, and training. Also this PSA on how to recognise disinformation @KnowBe4 https://t.co/4TnZo5wquv #AADisinformation https://t.co/Qtkdhu4eWl
— Javvad Malik v2.0 (@J4vv4D) October 27, 2020
A5: Externally, we are raising awareness about disinformation & fake news & I recently published a blog post which shares some top tips for spotting and protecting yourself again disinformation: https://t.co/iPyvkpWXX8. We’ll be sharing more resources this week. #AADisinformation
— Madeline (@MadzzHoward) October 27, 2020
A5: #AADisinformation I’ve called out “spoofers” and snake oil salesmen publicly but it’s a difficult to do so as it may seem to be emotive or have an alternate agenda.
With the (Irish/USA) Covid App, we did the cyber, and had to call out fake news also. Speak out be Brave!!— Eoin K (@EoinKeary) October 27, 2020
Given the negative impact fake news has, should it be viewed as a cybersecurity threat? When you observe how it is used, it can damage the reputation of an individual, organisation or country while also having the ability to manipulate opinions – both of which can lead to wrongfully harming the entity in question either physically or financially. So, what role can the cybersecurity sector play as a whole in preventing its spread?
A6: #AADisinformation Yes I’d say so. Given Cybersecurity is primarily there to protect “The person”. It can motivate malice and divide people, cause civil unrest. I believe the best cyber war attacks will cause civil unrest which will have most impact. pic.twitter.com/XOsG7JLeao
— Eoin K (@EoinKeary) October 27, 2020
A6: Yes, Fake news distorts our understanding of the threat landscape. If we are misled as to who is attacking us or why, it changes our defence posture. Warfare always deploys deception. #AAdisinformation
— Tony Morbin (@tonymorbin) October 27, 2020
A6: We know that nation state threat groups will try to mislead where attacks are coming from so that attacks are attributed to other countries. This can have really serious consequences and shows the importance of attribution. #AADisinformation
— Madeline (@MadzzHoward) October 27, 2020
A7: #AADisinformation Call it out. Inform platform owners of accounts which are potential bots. Be brave!! We cant let the normalization of “Alternative facts” be ok!!
— Eoin K (@EoinKeary) October 27, 2020
A7 Raise awareness, educate people, and provide mechanisms to report disinformation, scams, and fraud.
Also invest in technologies that can help automate the process where possible. e.g. auto-adding watermarks.#AADisinformation https://t.co/lEaZDPKQuE
— Javvad Malik v2.0 (@J4vv4D) October 27, 2020
A7: Cyber security is not just about preventing leaks, but also ensuring availability and integrity of systems and data. Integrity means Ensuring our data is not tampered with and that we know where information it truly coming from allows us to contextualise. #AADisinformation
— Tony Morbin (@tonymorbin) October 27, 2020
A7: On one level, education and awareness, and technology can also play a role in terms of automation, filtering, reputation checks, etc.#AADisinformation https://t.co/oij9AavMzm
— Neira Jones (@neirajones) October 27, 2020
While it appears further education and raising awareness to the issue of fake news is important in thwarting it, what would be the best solution to better regulate what information and news is posted to the public?
A8: Social media platforms would continue to develop and expand their dedicated fact checking teams allowing users to flag misleading and false stories. Its been promising to see Twitter flagging news stories & encouraging people to check stories are legitimate. #AADisinformation
— Madeline (@MadzzHoward) October 27, 2020
We regulate hate speech and incitement to violence. If a newspaper cannot publish things that have bad consequences, without suffering a comeback, why should social media platforms – or their users? Education, Regulation & laws needed. #AADisinformation
— Tony Morbin (@tonymorbin) October 27, 2020
A8: #AADisinformation A factcheck Bot!! If we can have fakenews bots can we have Factcheck bots? Good Bots, Happy Bots, Fast Bots. Regulation should be True or False but not filter freedom of speech (important). https://t.co/jR2ur3Ivmb
— Eoin K (@EoinKeary) October 27, 2020
To close out the discussion, we wanted to find out how much fake news has impacted the notion of free speech. It’s a dilemma we currently face, and while we agree it’s a balancing act, it seems to be spiralling out of control as the demand for more information grows…but is it necessarily the right information that is getting published and how much is being construed as opinion?
A9: Yes, but that has always been the case, especially if an “opinion” comes from a trusted “brand”…#AADisinformation
— Neira Jones (@neirajones) October 27, 2020
A9: This is tricky. To me, Fake news is the misrepresentation of facts which is intended to deceive, whereas free speech is an expression of opinion. We need to focus less on drawing a line & more on empowering people to spot fake & malicious news #AADisinformation
— Madeline (@MadzzHoward) October 27, 2020
A9 this has been the case for a long time. I think it’s not so much opinions which are misconstrued, but the machine in the back which purposely pushes and promotes misinformation. #AADisinformation https://t.co/JjnXcJPYPl
— Javvad Malik v2.0 (@J4vv4D) October 27, 2020
Lastly, will we see a time where Free Speech exists without Fake News…most have an optimistic view:
A10: No. We have to treat is the same way as having to live with coronavirus, and use common sense and best practice so as not to endanger ourselves and others.#AADisinformation
— Neira Jones (@neirajones) October 27, 2020
A10: #AADisinformation Yes it can but it needs to be fact checked. Free speech does not prevent lies. News is based on fact, speech is opinion. Everyone is entitled to have an opinion true or fake (misinformed).
— Eoin K (@EoinKeary) October 27, 2020
A10: Yes – if we mean Fake News is deliberate misleading – though I will admit I don’t know how we achieve it. #AADisinformation
— Tony Morbin (@tonymorbin) October 27, 2020
A10: Free speech enables voices and opinions to be heard. But we need to draw the line at malicious & false news stories, rumours and outright lies that take advantage and exploit vulnerable people. #AADisinformation
— Madeline (@MadzzHoward) October 27, 2020
A10 yes. #optimist #AADisinformation https://t.co/cSLROciGie pic.twitter.com/bGrrIoBRid
— Javvad Malik v2.0 (@J4vv4D) October 27, 2020
A10: No. We have to treat is the same way as having to live with coronavirus, and use common sense and best practice so as not to endanger ourselves and others.#AADisinformation
— Neira Jones (@neirajones) October 27, 2020
While we deal with the global pandemic, it is clear that we are also fighting against the virtual disease that is fake news & disinformation. Thankfully there are those that are making a stand and the Action Against Disinformation campaign as part of Security Serious Week 2020 has brought the topic to the forefront to make more people aware. Education is key and source checking can go a long way to ensuring you are well informed. To view all the content related to Security Serious Week 2020, click here.