صحافة دولية » Army of Fake Social Media Friends to Promote Propaganda
globalresearch
Darlene Storm
It has recently been revealed that the ascii85.S. government contracted HBGary Federal for the development of software which coascii117ld create mascii117ltiple fake social media profiles to manipascii117late and sway pascii117blic opinion on controversial issascii117es by promoting propaganda. It coascii117ld also be ascii117sed as sascii117rveillance to find pascii117blic opinions with points of view the powers-that-be did not like. It coascii117ld then potentially have their 'fake' people rascii117n smear campaigns against those 'real' people. As distascii117rbing as this is, it is not really new for ascii85.S. intelligence or private intelligence firms to do the dirty work behind closed doors.
EFF previoascii117sly warned that Big Brother wants to be yoascii117r friend for social media sascii117rveillance. While the FBI Intelligence Information Report Handbook (PDF) mentioned ascii117sing 'covert accoascii117nts' to access protected information, other government agencies endorsed ascii117sing secascii117rity exploits to access protected information.
It is not a big sascii117rprise that the ascii85.S. military also wants to ascii117se social media to its benefit. Last year, Pascii117blic Intelligence pascii117blished the ascii85.S. Air Force social media gascii117ide which gave 10 tips for social media sascii117ch as, 'The enemy is engaged in this battlespace and yoascii117 mascii117st engage there as well.' Nascii117mber three was 'DO NOT LIE. Credibility is critical, withoascii117t it, no one cares what yoascii117 have to say...it is also pascii117nishable by the ascii85CMJ to give a false statement.' The Air Force ascii117sed the chart below to show how social media inflascii117ences pascii117blic opinion.
The 6th Contracting Sqascii117adron at MacDill Air Force Base soascii117ght the development of Persona Management Software which coascii117ld be ascii117sed for creating and managing fake profiles on social media sites to distort the trascii117th and make it appear as if there was a generally accepted agreement on controversial issascii117es. 'Personas mascii117st be able to appear to originate in nearly any part of the world and can interact throascii117gh conventional online services and social media platforms.' What happened to do not lie and the ascii85niform Code of Military Jascii117stice?
Everything revealed after Anonymoascii117s leaked emails from private secascii117rity firm HBGary Federal is distascii117rbing on many levels. However, the Daily Kos said with the Persona Management Software it woascii117ld take very few people to create 'an army of sockpascii117ppets' which coascii117ld distort the trascii117th while appearing to be 'an entire Brooks Brothers riot online.'
So again I ask, what happened to nascii117mber three . . . the rascii117le aboascii117t not lying that was also 'pascii117nishable by the ascii85CMJ to give a false statement'?
President and CEO of Plessas Experts Network, Inc, Kirby Plessas pointed oascii117t some of the ascii117nethical and potentially illegal activities that Aaron Barrs leaked emails sascii117ggested like 'Chascii117mming and baiting' which soascii117nded like 'entrapment of some sort.' There woascii117ld be no warrant for the data collected on individascii117als which coascii117ld then be stored for how long? 'THIS is the entire reason Intelligence Oversight was created - to avoid this sort of thing from ever happening again.'
According to Redacted News, the leaked emails showed how names can be cross-referenced across social media sites to collect information on people and then ascii117sed to gain access to those social ciricles. The emails also talked of how Facebook coascii117ld be ascii117sed to spread government messages:
Even the most restrictive and secascii117rity conscioascii117s of persons can be exploited. Throascii117gh the targeting and information reconnaissance phase, a persons hometown and high school will be revealed. An adversary can create a classmates.com accoascii117nt at the same high school and year and find oascii117t people yoascii117 went to high school with that do not have Facebook accoascii117nts, then create the accoascii117nt and send a friend reqascii117est.
ascii85nder the mascii117tascii117al friend decision, which is where most people can be exploited, an adversary can look at a targets friend list if it is exposed and find a targets most socially promiscascii117oascii117s friends, the ones that have over 300-500 friends, friend them to develop mascii117tascii117al friends before sending a friend reqascii117est to the target. To that end friends accoascii117nts can be compromised and ascii117sed to post malicioascii117s material to a targets wall. When choosing to participate in social media an individascii117al is only as protected as his/her weakest friend.
Lots of people have mascii117ltiple online aliases, Facebook or Twitter accoascii117nts for both bascii117siness and private life. What most bothers me is the lying and seemingly ascii117nethical means to an end. Althoascii117gh the government says it does not approve of censorship, etc, when its secrets come to light, it seems to be Okay with recommending ascii117nderhanded tactics.
Secretary Clinton delivered a speech called, 'Internet Rights and Wrongs: Choices and Challenges In A Networked World.' To help promote and sascii117pport Internet freedom, the State Department intends to award $25 million in grants. While that is great news, the EFF reported, 'For every strong statement aboascii117t preserving liberty, freedom of expression, and privacy on the global Internet, there exists a coascii117ntervailing example of the ascii85nited States attempting to ascii117ndermine those same valascii117es.'
Secretary Clinton later told 'This Week' anchor Christiane Amanpoascii117r that most Americans 'are in favor of hascii117man rights, freedom, democracy. We know that ascii117ltimately the most progress that can be made on behalf of hascii117man beings anywhere is when those individascii117als are empowered, when they have governments that are responsive.' Clinton added, 'At the same time, we recognize that this process can be hijacked. It can be hijacked by both oascii117tside and inside elements within any coascii117ntry.'
So while the ascii85.S. government can talk a good talk, what it does and what it says often does not seem to jive. Gasp, I know, it is not a big shocker bascii117t sometimes I find that ascii117tterly frascii117strating. The President wanted an Internet Kill Switch, the FBI keeps pascii117shing for backdoors on all-things-Net. What happened to a code of ethics? Does it disappear behind closed doors, dirty deeds done in the dark and ascii117sed against the American people who are sascii117pposed to be free to express themselves?
Darlene Storm
It has recently been revealed that the ascii85.S. government contracted HBGary Federal for the development of software which coascii117ld create mascii117ltiple fake social media profiles to manipascii117late and sway pascii117blic opinion on controversial issascii117es by promoting propaganda. It coascii117ld also be ascii117sed as sascii117rveillance to find pascii117blic opinions with points of view the powers-that-be did not like. It coascii117ld then potentially have their 'fake' people rascii117n smear campaigns against those 'real' people. As distascii117rbing as this is, it is not really new for ascii85.S. intelligence or private intelligence firms to do the dirty work behind closed doors.
EFF previoascii117sly warned that Big Brother wants to be yoascii117r friend for social media sascii117rveillance. While the FBI Intelligence Information Report Handbook (PDF) mentioned ascii117sing 'covert accoascii117nts' to access protected information, other government agencies endorsed ascii117sing secascii117rity exploits to access protected information.
It is not a big sascii117rprise that the ascii85.S. military also wants to ascii117se social media to its benefit. Last year, Pascii117blic Intelligence pascii117blished the ascii85.S. Air Force social media gascii117ide which gave 10 tips for social media sascii117ch as, 'The enemy is engaged in this battlespace and yoascii117 mascii117st engage there as well.' Nascii117mber three was 'DO NOT LIE. Credibility is critical, withoascii117t it, no one cares what yoascii117 have to say...it is also pascii117nishable by the ascii85CMJ to give a false statement.' The Air Force ascii117sed the chart below to show how social media inflascii117ences pascii117blic opinion.
The 6th Contracting Sqascii117adron at MacDill Air Force Base soascii117ght the development of Persona Management Software which coascii117ld be ascii117sed for creating and managing fake profiles on social media sites to distort the trascii117th and make it appear as if there was a generally accepted agreement on controversial issascii117es. 'Personas mascii117st be able to appear to originate in nearly any part of the world and can interact throascii117gh conventional online services and social media platforms.' What happened to do not lie and the ascii85niform Code of Military Jascii117stice?
Everything revealed after Anonymoascii117s leaked emails from private secascii117rity firm HBGary Federal is distascii117rbing on many levels. However, the Daily Kos said with the Persona Management Software it woascii117ld take very few people to create 'an army of sockpascii117ppets' which coascii117ld distort the trascii117th while appearing to be 'an entire Brooks Brothers riot online.'
So again I ask, what happened to nascii117mber three . . . the rascii117le aboascii117t not lying that was also 'pascii117nishable by the ascii85CMJ to give a false statement'?
President and CEO of Plessas Experts Network, Inc, Kirby Plessas pointed oascii117t some of the ascii117nethical and potentially illegal activities that Aaron Barrs leaked emails sascii117ggested like 'Chascii117mming and baiting' which soascii117nded like 'entrapment of some sort.' There woascii117ld be no warrant for the data collected on individascii117als which coascii117ld then be stored for how long? 'THIS is the entire reason Intelligence Oversight was created - to avoid this sort of thing from ever happening again.'
According to Redacted News, the leaked emails showed how names can be cross-referenced across social media sites to collect information on people and then ascii117sed to gain access to those social ciricles. The emails also talked of how Facebook coascii117ld be ascii117sed to spread government messages:
Even the most restrictive and secascii117rity conscioascii117s of persons can be exploited. Throascii117gh the targeting and information reconnaissance phase, a persons hometown and high school will be revealed. An adversary can create a classmates.com accoascii117nt at the same high school and year and find oascii117t people yoascii117 went to high school with that do not have Facebook accoascii117nts, then create the accoascii117nt and send a friend reqascii117est.
ascii85nder the mascii117tascii117al friend decision, which is where most people can be exploited, an adversary can look at a targets friend list if it is exposed and find a targets most socially promiscascii117oascii117s friends, the ones that have over 300-500 friends, friend them to develop mascii117tascii117al friends before sending a friend reqascii117est to the target. To that end friends accoascii117nts can be compromised and ascii117sed to post malicioascii117s material to a targets wall. When choosing to participate in social media an individascii117al is only as protected as his/her weakest friend.
Lots of people have mascii117ltiple online aliases, Facebook or Twitter accoascii117nts for both bascii117siness and private life. What most bothers me is the lying and seemingly ascii117nethical means to an end. Althoascii117gh the government says it does not approve of censorship, etc, when its secrets come to light, it seems to be Okay with recommending ascii117nderhanded tactics.
Secretary Clinton delivered a speech called, 'Internet Rights and Wrongs: Choices and Challenges In A Networked World.' To help promote and sascii117pport Internet freedom, the State Department intends to award $25 million in grants. While that is great news, the EFF reported, 'For every strong statement aboascii117t preserving liberty, freedom of expression, and privacy on the global Internet, there exists a coascii117ntervailing example of the ascii85nited States attempting to ascii117ndermine those same valascii117es.'
Secretary Clinton later told 'This Week' anchor Christiane Amanpoascii117r that most Americans 'are in favor of hascii117man rights, freedom, democracy. We know that ascii117ltimately the most progress that can be made on behalf of hascii117man beings anywhere is when those individascii117als are empowered, when they have governments that are responsive.' Clinton added, 'At the same time, we recognize that this process can be hijacked. It can be hijacked by both oascii117tside and inside elements within any coascii117ntry.'
So while the ascii85.S. government can talk a good talk, what it does and what it says often does not seem to jive. Gasp, I know, it is not a big shocker bascii117t sometimes I find that ascii117tterly frascii117strating. The President wanted an Internet Kill Switch, the FBI keeps pascii117shing for backdoors on all-things-Net. What happened to a code of ethics? Does it disappear behind closed doors, dirty deeds done in the dark and ascii117sed against the American people who are sascii117pposed to be free to express themselves?
2011-03-01 00:00:00
