Fake News: Could A Cyberattack Cause A Cyberwar?

In the way it undercuts trust, fake news is a form of cyberattack. Governments must work to stop it. Fake news, we've all heard about it, but sometimes we struggle to grasp the extent of its impact.

With more people moving online and social media becoming the go-to news source, and with a good chunk of what is put on social media being fake, the reader must determine whether information is true or not. When people believe everything they read, the world becomes an unpredictable place.

In the past, we could easily choose which news source to follow and have a high level of confidence about its accuracy. Today, however, with news arriving to us in a social media feed, both trusted and fake news sources are merged together, and the consumer must decide whether or not to believe the news. 

With no clear indication of the truth or the source of news on social media, many countries, democracies, and nation-states will struggle with transparency and could become politically instable. It only takes one fake news story within a trustworthy source to devalue an entire news feed, forcing us to question what is real and what is not.

To put it bluntly, fake news is a form of cyber-attack and will only grow significantly in 2018 and beyond.

Attribution, Transparency and Response
Fake information has become a major disruption to our way of life, filling our news feeds to influence our actions in an attempt to change the outcome of important decisions, including elections. 

Rather than focusing on the important needs of citizens, such as taxes, health, and education, many governments are now embroiled in trust and transparency challenges caused by the continuous disruption from cyber-attacks. We have seen the governments in both the US and UK increasing focus and attention on recent cyber incidents with little to no transparency.   
Many recent cyber incidents have involved the theft of huge amounts of personal and sensitive information that is then used to pursue and influence our nation's decision-making. 

Some notable cyber incidents, for example, breaches at Yahoo, Ashley Madison, and Equifax, exposed sensitive data that could be used via news feeds to trigger emotions and reactions. When a cyberattack from another nation-state tries to influence our way of life, our society, or our government, should this be considered an act of war?

Large troll factories and botnet farms are using our stolen personal information to guarantee that our news feeds are filled with fake information that attracts readers to respond and participate, creating a growing trend that encircles friends and family. 
This could start from a machine-controlled bot that wants you to share malicious information, influence your friends' decisions, and distrust your own government, creating divisions rather than giving you true information.   

National Ownership & International Cooperation
It's clear that cyber-attacks are crossing country borders and disrupting our way of life, without nation-states taking responsibility. We hear about cybercriminal groups that are behind many of the major cyber incidents in recent years, including data breaches, ransomware, or the targeting of government agencies' classified information. 

Companies and governments have linked these cyber-criminal groups to nation-states; for example, both FireEye and Symantec have accused North Korea of being behind the WannaCry ransomware, though they haven't revealed concrete evidence and North Korea has denied involvement. 

Without clear cooperation and transparency, this problem will grow with into increasing numbers of cyber-attacks on critical infrastructure, political affiliations, financial institutions, and communications.

To prevent a major catastrophe from occurring, governments and nation-states need to work together on cyber attribution with full cooperation and transparency that holds each other responsible for the actions of criminal organisations operating from within their borders. 

At the recent World Economic Forum, it was announced that a new Global Centre for Cybersecurity will be launched. This should focus on establishing cooperation between governments so that attribution is possible in the future; if a cybercrime has been committed, the governments involved should work together, similar to the way Interpol works today. 

It is equally important that governments do not provide a safe haven for cyber-criminals to carry out such attacks, especially when they are doing it for financial and political gains with and extreme aggression. It is time for governments to act and protect democracy and our way of life.

Dark Reading

You Might Also Read: 

Facebook Enables 'Fake News':

The ‘Complete’ History of 'Fake News':

Prime Minister Wants A 'fake news' Rapid Response Team:
 

« Your Questions Answered By The GDPR Advisory Board
What’s Happening With China’s Fintech? »

Infosecurity Europe
CyberSecurity Jobsite
Perimeter 81

Directory of Suppliers

DigitalStakeout

DigitalStakeout

DigitalStakeout enables cyber security professionals to reduce cyber risk to their organization with proactive security solutions, providing immediate improvement in security posture and ROI.

Jooble

Jooble

Jooble is a job search aggregator operating in 71 countries worldwide. We simplify the job search process by displaying active job ads from major job boards and career sites across the internet.

Practice Labs

Practice Labs

Practice Labs is an IT competency hub, where live-lab environments give access to real equipment for hands-on practice of essential cybersecurity skills.

Directory of Cyber Security Suppliers

Directory of Cyber Security Suppliers

Our Supplier Directory lists 7,000+ specialist cyber security service providers in 128 countries worldwide. IS YOUR ORGANISATION LISTED?

ManageEngine

ManageEngine

As the IT management division of Zoho Corporation, ManageEngine prioritizes flexible solutions that work for all businesses, regardless of size or budget.

Microsoft Security

Microsoft Security

Microsoft Security helps protect people and data against cyberthreats to give you peace of mind. Safeguard your people, data, and infrastructure.

National Information Security & Safety Authority (NISSA) - Libya

National Information Security & Safety Authority (NISSA) - Libya

NISSA is responsible for safeguarding the integrity, availability and resilienceof ICT infrastructure, resources, services and data in Libya.

LRQA

LRQA

LRQA is an award-winning global provider of cybersecurity services, bringing innovative thought leadership to the ever-evolving cybersecurity marketplace.

Archivo

Archivo

Archivo is a value added reseller focused on Disaster Recovery as a Service (DRaaS), backup, hyper-convergence, hybrid storage and Cyber security.

Red Snapper Recruitment

Red Snapper Recruitment

Red Snapper Recruitment is a market leading staffing services provider to the law enforcement, cyber security, offender supervision and regulatory services markets.

DCX Technology

DCX Technology

Recognized as a leader in security services, DXC Technology help clients prevent potential attack pathways, reduce cyber risk and improve threat detection and incident response.

LOGbinder

LOGbinder

LOGbinder eliminates blind spots in security intelligence for endpoints and applications.

Centraleyes

Centraleyes

Centraleyes (formerly CyGov) is a cutting-edge integrated cyber risk management platform that gives organizations unparalleled understanding of their cyber risk and compliance.

Suridata

Suridata

Suridata’s SaaS Security platform enables organizations to secure the use of SaaS applications.

GM Sectec

GM Sectec

GM Sectec is the world's largest independent Cyber Defense and Fraud Prevention firm laser focused on payment security.

xdr.global

xdr.global

Xdr.global is a cybersecurity consulting firm, focused on promoting and aligning Extended Detection and Response (XDR) security solutions.

Orchestrate Technologies

Orchestrate Technologies

Orchestrate Technologies provides computer network and IT managed services for small and mid-market clients as well as small enterprise businesses.

CYBRI

CYBRI

CYBRI is a cybersecurity company helping businesses detect and remediate mission-critical vulnerabilities before they get exploited by hackers.

Eleviant Tech (CTG Group)

Eleviant Tech (CTG Group)

Eleviant Tech (CTG Group) is a USA based digital transformation company with expertise in Mobile, Cloud, Web, IoT, AR, RPA, Cyberseurity and AI Technologies.

Ark Infotech

Ark Infotech

Ark Infotech is a provider of cloud management services, selective support services, and technology solutions.

FatPipe Networks

FatPipe Networks

FatPipe’s network optimization solutions along with robust native security and SASE-based protection provides organizations all they need for super network performance and security.